Grave Robber
by Princess-Bobbypins
Summary: Seto wanted to take his secrets to the grave, but when a class project lands him and Joey closer than desired, those secrets become harder to protect than ever. Especially when Joey is discovering the common ground they share. yaoi, ref. to rape & abuse
1. Behave

**Title: **Grave Robber

**Summary: **Seto wanted to take his secrets to the grave, but when a class project lands him and Joey closer than desired, those secrets become harder to protect than ever.

**Contains: **Yoai, lemon in random chapters, references to child abuse and molestation, sudden flashbacks, arguments, and occasionally ooc-ness

**Pairing: **Seto X Joey

**Disclaimer: **I do not own yu-gi-oh or the characters, I also make no money from the writing of this fanfic.

**Author's Note: **I have never written this pairing before and I feel rather strange and out of my comfort zone. I've written Seto enough, but Joey is a new persona to adopt. However, I became obsessed with the idea of creating a new (overused actually) rendition of the bonding of Joey and Seto over their common history with abuse/neglect.

It is my goal to keep them as realistically in character as possible and will therefore prevent both characters from randomly spouting out affection, memories, and fears towards the other without due process.

Also, because I could think of no other way to force to two enemies together, I did what many have done before me—the dreaded partner project that haunts every former student to this very day…

Please enjoy despite my uncreative beginning.

() () ()

Seto tossed his briefcase aside hard enough that the framed schematic hanging on his office wall shuddered.

At least it didn't fall this time.

After sifting through the files in his hand, Seto flopped them onto the massive stack that was the rest of his unfinished paperwork.

He didn't have time for this. Why did everyone assume that he had time for all of these…these trivial academic _games_? He was busy! He had things to do! Why was it that, for the sake of "fairness", his simple "job" was viewed with the same lack of importance as the after school work of his puny classmates? He wasn't waiting tables, cleaning aisle three, or taking tickets—he was running a company! He was raising a child for God's sake! And not even his own so it couldn't be blamed on recklessness.

It wasn't that he didn't want to set aside time in the morning for the "project"—he had none. How much earlier could he rise? Was three thirty in the morning too late? Sacrificing his lunch hour? His lunch hour was spent on his laptop doing whatever he could do away from his office. After school, the teacher had suggested.

When?

He went home, changed, made sure nothing was amiss in the house, waiting ten minutes for Mokuba to arrive, nodded to him, left for the office, got a stack of papers at the main desk, listened to his assistant prattle of his missed calls, got into his office and worked! If life was merciful, he finished with his office work at six, he went home, he had dinner for a half hour…and went back to work until…

Until?

Eleven? Twelve?

This was pathetic. He had a family to take care of—not a big one, but that didn't matter. Assign him a paper—it'd be done perfectly in fifteen minutes at most. A math worksheet—five minutes. A science project—an hour at _most_.

These were all on his time. He could stop and return as he pleased. Group work meant going out of his way to fit another person's life into his own. If he answered the phone, he was scoffed by his partner, answered an e-mail he was reported to have been "unhelpful" to the group members…

Seto took in a deep breath as he dropped into his seat. All of this _inconvenience_ because "the world can't accept a CEO without a high school diploma" and "in-home, private lessons for university credit" don't count for high school.

He probably wouldn't have allowed himself to become so upset about it if it weren't for who he'd been "randomly" paired with…

"Mr. Kaiba, Mr. Wheeler is here for your three O'clock appointment."

Oh yes, that teacher _knew_ how much he hated that mutt Wheeler.

Seto regretted correcting the teacher's last mistake, but what good was it to be "taught" by a man who made mistakes in basic—

"Hey, Kaiba, sorry it took so long for me to get here. There was like this long line of traffic—"

"Don't waste any more of my time with your inane stories," Seto growled. "We now have only twenty minutes before I have a meeting so tell me that you already have something planned in that empty container you call a head—or is that asking too much?" Seto raised a well-kept brow and allowed his eyes to narrow. Joey glared back, but Seto gave the dog credit for biting back his temper more than usual.

Smart move. If the mutt had started an argument, Seto wouldn't have held back. Waiting around for ten minutes for a partner for a project that would take him fifteen minutes to do on his own when he could be at home changing out of his uniform and making sure his little brother made it home was not his ideal way to start off his afternoon. (Not that he'd been on time himself, but he wasn't going let Wheeler know that.)

Joey, gritting his teeth behind forcedly sealing lips, let out a heavy sigh as he attempted to rein in his temper.

"Yeah, actually. I came up with a few ideas."

"Them just say them already," Seto commanded, watching Joey's narrowed eyes.

"It's not the most creative idea, but—"

"Don't you know anything?" Seto criticized. "You _never_ start a sales pitch with a negative statement. Why don't you just drop out since you can't even master the basics of sales?"

"Gee, I didn't know I was tryin'ta sell you somethin'!" Joey spat.

"Get on with it, Wheeler. I don't have all day."

"Quit interrupting me every time I try to—"

"Mr. Kaiba, your appointment for three thirty is here. He says it's urgent that he see you now." The secretary was smart, Joey thought. She came in wearing a cute little outfit, said what needed to be said in a professional voice, turned around and walked out, closing the door slowly behind her. She didn't wait to hear what "Mr. Kaiba" had to say. It was almost like she was the one calling the shots.

"We'll finish with this tomorrow," Seto said, eyeing his paperwork before he looked at Joey. "Have my assistant pencil you in for an appointment, and don't be late this time. You can go."

"You can't just make me leave!" Joey spat vehemently. "We've only got a week to work on—"

"I'll get to it tomorrow—bring more ideas next time. Now _go_." Leaving the office and making a point to slam the door behind him, Joey fumed.

"Mr. Kaiba has an hour free between five thirty and six thirty tomorrow morning—"

"That's not gonna work," Joey hissed, not able to make eye contact with the woman behind the front desk. He at least had the ability to control his anger and not take it out on innocent bystanders. It wasn't _his_ idea to get paired with Seto Kaiba and he wasn't any happier about it than the CEO or the girls in the class. But at least he didn't try to start a fight right off the bat.

"I'm sorry, but that's the only available—"

"Six O'clock," Seto spat, wandering out of his office and past the desk as he traveled from one room towards an office that had blinds drawn over its windows. The woman didn't fumble or even appear ruffled. She flipped through a legal pad on her desk and then shook her head.

"We could attempt move the appointment with I2, but I don't know if they'll—"

"The _other_ six O'clock." Seto slammed the door to the boardroom and the woman's shoulders lowered slightly, but only for a moment.

"Six p.m. then," she stated, her hardening eyes locking with Joey's. It was a look that left him puzzled long into the night.

What was so bad about six O'clock?

It probably made her stay over, Joey decided. Kaiba was a jerk; he wouldn't even let the poor woman go home on time. She probably had kids or something…Joey found himself feeling almost guilty for not accepting the five thirty slot.

Almost.

() ()

Seto made a point to arrive home in time for dinner. He'd left in the morning before Mokuba had even gotten up, didn't get the chance to see him after his classes had ended, and hadn't even gotten the chance to call him for a two minute chat to make sure he was still alive and that the world wasn't going to collapse around them because of extenuating circumstances. He had to make it home for dinner because, tomorrow night, he wouldn't be able to.

() () ()

Well, Joey tried to control himself, Seto obviously didn't. Poor Mokuba, always getting the short end of the bargain.


	2. Temper

**Title: **Grave Robber

**Summary: **Seto wanted to take his secrets to the grave, but when a class project lands him and Joey closer than desired, those secrets become harder to protect than ever. Especially when Joey is discovering the common ground they share.

**Contains: **Yoai, lemon in random chapters, references to child abuse and molestation, sudden flashbacks, arguments, and occasionally ooc-ness

**Pairing: **Seto X Joey

**Disclaimer: **I do not own yu-gi-oh or the characters, I also make no money from the writing of this fanfic.

**Author's Note: **I enjoy seeing these to argue, but if you squint a little, Seto seems a bit friendly in this chapter. Just a bit though. We can't have the world collapse.

( ) ( ) ( )

Joey made the point to arrive early and simultaneously regretted it and was contented with it. The only thing that caused him to be uneasy was the cold glances that Kaiba's assistant, the woman behind the desk, kept passing him and the raised voices coming from the covered boardroom.

"Is there a reason you keep glarin' at me or is your face stuck that way?" Joey boomed when he could control himself no more. The woman's face pulled into a pinched expression and she produced a glare that rivaled her boss's.

"Though it is unprofessional for me to say so, _sir_," she spat, leaning over her desk like a monster from a nightmare. "I find you to be a very selfish, insensitive man." Joey blinked through his intense glare. Insensitive? Where did she derive that from? He'd managed to keep himself from knocking Kaiba on his face when the snob kept harassing him the previous day. "Though it is inconvenient for you to drag yourself out of bed at five in the morning, I'd say it's worse that Mr. Kaiba won't be able to—"

"That's enough." The woman's face turned scarlet and she immediately reclined back into her seat. Joey turned his head towards the boardroom's door where Kaiba stood, dressed in white business suit—the one that oddly resembled the colours of the businessman's favorite Duel Monster. Joey scoffed at him. "Wheeler, get in my office." Kaiba barely offered the blonde a glance as he passed through the small lobby towards another room around a corner. After he'd disappeared, Joey stood and watched as three well-dressed men shuffled out of the boardroom and towards the elevator.

They didn't even mumble to one another. Not even as the elevator doors closed.

The meeting must not have gone well.

Kaiba's assistant remained flushed and introverted, staring at her hands which were folded in her lap. The phone on her desk rang, and she answered it just as Joey had gone into her harsh-voiced boss's office.

He barely had time to set his notebook down on Kaiba's messy desk before the man stormed in dramatically and ill-temperedly. Joey stiffened as if he'd been caught doing something wrong, only to find himself gritting his teeth in rage as his notebook was swept up venomously and regarded with hard eyes.

Then tossed back into Joey's fumbling hands.

"Good, you've learned how to get a proposal looked at. Next time have it open to the page you've written on so I don't get fed up flipping through page after page of your first period doodles." Kaiba dropped into his seat and crossed his legs. He leaned forward onto his desk and rested his head atop his laced fingers. "Not bad. I'm impressed." Joey didn't know what to make of the bombarding comments tossed at him in various pitches and tones, so he settled for just scowling.

"Quit tryin' to lecture me, rich boy." Kaiba's lip twitched with either amusement or displeasure—Joey couldn't tell.

"Fine. Let's get down to business. Your idea works—_barely_—so I'll come up with a few things to improve it." Joey tried to get a word in, but Kaiba talked over him. "After that we can split the work in half, I'll do my part, you do yours, then I'll check over your _attempts_, and finally we'll put it together and decide on the small things. Sound fair?" Joey stammered a few times and then spit out a response.

"No! That's just so you can do all the work and say I didn't help! I know where this is goin', you think I was born yesterday?" Kaiba snorted and withdrew his hands onto his lap, reclining in his chair.

"Not quite. I'll do most of the work, but just to secure myself a high grade. It would do me no good to say you didn't take part." Joey's eye twitched slightly and Kaiba's lips curled into a smirk and then an abrupt scowl. "The teacher would fail us both and the whole point of _me_ doing the work is so that we _don't_ fail." Joey attempted to speak, but Kaiba talked over him once again.

( ) ( ) ( )

By the hour's end, Kaiba had already drafted a basic outline of topics to be discussed. At least he _called_ it a basic outline. It was practically a report. He'd printed off two copies, assigned Joey the first half of the work and claimed the last half for himself—the part which involved the most attention.

He chased Joey out of his office barely thirty seconds before the clock struck seven. Before Joey even managed to close the door, the phone began to ring in several different tones and bells.

As he passed the assistant who was scowling at him once again, he could no longer hold his tongue.

"What?" He shouted. "You get paid to work over don't you? So why do you keep looking at me like that!" The woman recoiled, but not in surprise, more like disgust.

"Work over? My shift doesn't end until nine, Mr. Wheeler. But if you're wondering why I'm aggravated it's because you're so selfish that you couldn't get up early and because of that Mr. Kaiba won't be able to make it home for dinner!" Joey looked at her with a scrunched face.

What was so important about being home for dinner? There had to be a break room somewhere with a microwave. Throw in a TV dinner and eat at the desk.

It wasn't until he stepped through the front door of his house that he realized the connection.

Home.

Family.

For Kaiba, that meant Mokuba. For Kaiba, that meant the world.

( ) ( ) ( )

If you're wondering why I alternated between calling Seto "Seto" and "Kaiba" in this chapter as compared to the first one, it's because this one is more Jou-centric (he calls Seto "Kaiba") whereas the last one was Seto-centric.

And I promise that the next chapter will have some a-ha romance is possible moments.


	3. Excuses

**Title: **Grave Robber

**Summary: **Seto wanted to take his secrets to the grave, but when a class project lands him and Joey closer than desired, those secrets become harder to protect than ever. Especially when Joey is discovering the common ground they share.

**Contains: **Yoai, lemon in random chapters, references to child abuse and molestation, sudden flashbacks, arguments, and occasionally ooc-ness

**Pairing: **Seto X Joey

**Disclaimer: **I do not own yu-gi-oh or the characters, I also make no money from the writing of this fanfic.

**Author's Note: **There are undertones of compassion on Kaiba's part, but not OOC gushy, secret, repressed love. Just neglected feelings of concern.

( ) ( ) ( )

Seto rubbed at his face with his hands in an attempt to keep his eyes from closing and staying that way and because he was generally frustrated. It was eleven at night, Mokuba was asleep, and he'd just finally gotten home. Whenever he had a meeting with I2 there was too much work to be done to expect any rest. As much as he hated to admit it, even if Wheeler had agreed to the morning meeting, he still wouldn't have been able to make it home for dinner.

It was just easier on himself to tell Mokuba that he wasn't coming home because he had schoolwork he needed to complete there instead of using the classic "sorry, kid, I have work tonight" excuse. At least he'd thought that it would have been easier; Mokuba was getting older, and when boys got older they challenged everything they heard.

"If it was Joey, why didn't you let him come here? You can eat and work at the same time—that's what _I_ do." He'd spouted some stuff over the phone in response to that, pathetic excuses, but when it came right down to it, he and Mokuba both knew that there was still more work to be done. Work that couldn't be done anywhere except for the office.

Seto sighed in frustration and started up the laptop on his desk.

Invite Joey into his house? Why would he do something like that, even if Mokuba requested it? He'd get paw prints all over the furniture…

There was another question in the back of Seto's mind as well, a less comfortable one. If he hated that mutt so much, why did he waste his breath teaching him little business tips that probably wouldn't help the punk in whatever lowlife career path he chose?

He hadn't been thinking, and he couldn't help himself—he saw something uneducated and he wanted to teach it. Even if it was just a filthy mongrel like Joey Wheeler.

Whatever it had been—correcting Wheeler's foolish mistakes—generosity or a bad habit, Seto reassured himself that he wouldn't allow it to happen again. If the dog wanted to start business propositions on a negative foot, so be it.

Seto felt a shudder run through his body despite his efforts to stifle it as he breezed through his computer's security precautions to access the last tendrils of his life's work.

What idiot didn't know how to start a proposal? Even before Gozaburo's teachings, he'd known to speak positively about every idea and leave the product's weaknesses in the dark.

His body shuddered again and he rolled back his shoulders as if the tremor was nothing more than a stiff muscle. In sympathy of the mock-wound, Seto's left hand went to the portion of his neck where it attached to the shoulder and massaged gently. Subconsciously, he let his hand fall back to the desk, but only after running his hand from the back of his shoulder, forward until caressing the fabric that covered the side his throat.

There were scars there, buried under the fabric Seto remembered, but he barely recalled them at the worst of times so having their presence return to his mind that night was an unwelcome surprise. It was essential to keep such scars hidden, the media did not need more dirt in which to dig, but hiding them wasn't hard. Most of the shirts he owned were work shirts—that is to say, they all buttoned up to the middle of his throat and required a tie. When they didn't, he had trench coats with raised collars. If he didn't think that even the collar of the coat would suffice and he didn't feel like wearing a tie, there was always a high-necked sweater to be found. These clothes had been deemed his "style".

When, at first, he'd had to consciously pick these outfits (with Gozaburo's guiding hand all the while), every shirt he saw had him pondering. "Is the neck too low? Will they see? Do they know already?" Now, he'd been ordering shirts similar in style for over six years and he didn't have to think about hiding scars. The types of shirts he'd once been restricted to buying he now bought because he'd become accustomed to seeing himself in them and could imagine himself in nothing else.

Still…sometimes, whenever he felt that work was piling up, not getting done properly, or just—in general—stressed, he could feel the constriction of a different collar than that of his shirt on his windpipe.

It was just Gozaburo's way to torture him from beyond the grave, wasn't it?

Seto began typing heavily, trying to keep him mind focused only on the work he was completing and how quickly and efficiently he was completing it.

Aside from the dog collar, another thought kept resurfacing in his mind.

That dog Wheeler.

When he first saw and spoke to that scrap of a human being, all he could think of was how ignorant the mutt was to the ways of the world.

In Gozaburo's terms, all ignorant creatures were dogs. Seto was a dog. Mokuba was a dog. Joey Wheeler was a _dog_.

Dogs wore collars.

If Seto had been drinking, he was sure he would have spat out his beverage in joint horror and surprise.

Ignorant humans were humans.

Wheeler was a human.

Humans. Don't. Wear. Collars…

( ) ( ) ( )

**A/N: **If it doesn't click, Seto pictured Joey in a collar.


	4. Deep Down

**Title: **Grave Robber

**Summary: **Seto wanted to take his secrets to the grave, but when a class project lands him and Joey closer than desired, those secrets become harder to protect than ever. Especially when Joey is discovering the common ground they share.

**Contains: **Yoai, lemon in random chapters, references to child abuse and molestation, sudden flashbacks, arguments, and occasionally ooc-ness

**Pairing: **Seto X Joey

**Disclaimer: **I do not own yu-gi-oh or the characters, I also make no money from the writing of this fanfic.

**Author's Note: **Everyone is gossiping! Why? It's not as exciting as you think, but here are some scraps of affection of Joey's part.

( ) ( ) ( )

The corners of the room, the hallways, the rooms at the end of the hall, and even the outside pathway was teeming with them—whispers from the girls about how the shit was about to hit the fan. It all started because one girl, close to Joey Wheeler, confessed to another girl that Joey and Seto Kaiba (that's right, Joey's arch rival) were sitting together in an unused—though not unpopulated—spare classroom working on a project together during the lunch hour.

The class in which the project had been assigned had chocked on its gasps when the two were partnered, but to hear that they were actually _working_ was enough to make everyone feel faint.

It was to be expected of Seto Kaiba, as one girl stated to her group of friends in the hallway. He was a professional, he was used to dealing with people he didn't like. But it was still surprising that he even made an effort when it was obvious the Joey Wheeler would just slack off and make them both fail.

Around campus, girls cooed, guys shrugged, and Seto and Joey worked on a project indifferent to it all.

"It's decent," Kaiba said, scanning over the presentation Joey had uploaded on the laptop. "I can fix up a few things and add my part over the next couple of days." After saying only those few words, he closed the project and turned to Joey with chilled eyes.

"That's it?" Joey asked, brow raised in surprise. "What no lectures this time?"

"I'm through wasting my time."

"Oh, is that so?" Joey asked, raising his voice and glaring. Kaiba didn't reply to him, but turned his laptop more to himself and began entering codes into the various applications on his desktop. Joey didn't look at the keys as the other boy typed, he knew better, but he couldn't help but be enraged and in awe at the same time as he watched the young CEO work.

His focus was unbreakable, even when Joey waved his hand over his eyes. There were graphs up, documents up, and, by the time Joey gave up and walked off, Kaiba had answered over fifteen e-mails from several inboxes without faltering or pausing to think about what to say.

Joey wandered through the halls for the remaining time before the lunch period reached its conclusion. He was not thinking in depth about anything or worrying about anything that Kaiba had said or had refrained from saying. (It did dawn on him for a moment that Moneybags didn't call him a mutt or a dog during their last encounter, but he didn't pay the fact much mind. Kaiba had been in a hurry to get back to work.)

"Joey! Joey, wait a moment!" Joey stopped before entering his next period classroom. A girl he recognized from passing, though he'd never really spoken to her before, was running towards him, holding out a folded piece of paper in her hands. "Kaiba asked me to bring this to you!" She was out of breath by the time the paper made its way into Joey's hand.

"Ooo, Joey's getting letters from his secret admirer!" It was Tristan, pushing past Joey and slipping into the classroom. The girl flushed and then darted away after saying a short word of farewell.

"Shut up, man," Joey hissed. He opened the letter and looked it over. He was lucky enough to finish it before Tristan ripped it out of his hand.

"'Five O'clock, the mansion, tomorrow.' Well that's real polite." He handed the note back to Joey who crumpled it in his fist.

"I hate this guy," Joey grumbled. "He never meets anywhere convenient for me. Always at his office and now at his house."

"Well, duh," Tristan chided. "He's forcing you into his schedule. He's got work to do."

"At his house? Now he's just trying to rub his money in my face. 'Meet at my house' why I oughta…"

( ) ( ) ( )

Joey could have smashed something he was so angry. 'Five O'Clock, the mansion, tomorrow', well, it was five, he was at the mansion and there was no Kaiba! There was _a_ Kaiba, but not the one that he needed at the moment.

"Like I said, Joey, I'm sorry. He got held up at work again," Mokuba said, guiding Joey through the entrance hall, down a corridor, and into a modern-looking sitting room. There was a computer desk in the far corner with a panel of windows behind it and a TV hanging on the wall with a long black couch sitting perpendicular to it. "When he gets home he'll come here first." Joey sat down on the couch and stared at the wall. "Want me to wait with you?"

"No, that's fine. Go do your homework or something. I'm not letting that brother of yours blame me if you don't get stuff done."

"My work's already done for the day. I _always_ get it done before Seto comes home." Mokuba remained standing in the doorway and Joey stared at the wall intensely.

Somewhere, a clock was ticking loudly.

At five thirty, Kaiba finally made his arrival, storming into that modern sitting room, clipping Mokuba's shoulder in a way that surprised Joey, and then tossing his briefcase down onto the computer desk.

"Seto, I had the kitchen staff set another place at the table for Joey." Mokuba didn't wait for his brother's words of reprimand. He slid out the door and disappeared while Kaiba still loomed over his desk with his teeth gritted and bared.

"I'm taking it that _someone_ had a bad day," Joey mumbled under his breath. He was aware that Kaiba would catch the words, but not conscious to how violently the man would react to them.

"I am in no mood!" Kaiba shouted, turning to Joey and scowling darkly. His blue eyes, usually frigid, were now burning with rage and hate.

"Whoa," Joey commented, tossing his hands up in surrender. "Relax."

"I don't have _time_ to relax! I have just enough time to finish the work I have with you and then I have to get on a plane and leave for a board meeting that was supposed to be two weeks from now!" Joey wanted to shout back, to tell the rich boy to direct his rage at someone else, but refrained. "And then maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll be home tomorrow night so I can get my share of this worthless project done!" Kaiba's chest heaved with his heavy breaths and Joey merely watched in silence as the breaths slowed and the flames in his eyes died down. "Did you finish anything?" He asked, suddenly calm and composed.

"Yeah," Joey said with a slight stammer. It was creepy how fast Kaiba got his temper under control. He stood up from the couch and walked over to Kaiba's desk warily. "I sent it to your e-mail like you said." Kaiba grunted in response and turned on his computer.

"It's obvious that Mokuba is expecting me at dinner, so I guess we're going to have to compile this as quickly as possible before he calls us to eat." The computer booted and Kaiba once again surprised Joey with the nearly elegant, though speedy, way he entered in all of the codes for his system's security. "As I said before, after I'm finished I have to leave." Kaiba paused for a moment and turned his eyes towards Joey suddenly. "You can't stay here after I've left."

"Didn't plan on it, rich boy!" Joey snapped, his self-control dwindling.

"Good." Finally, Kaiba accessed his e-mail and began to combine Joey's work with his own, leaving Joey feeling out-of-place and more than slightly embarrassed. The quality of the work that Kaiba had done was by far superior to Joey's, even though the former had had less time to work than the latter. As to feeling out-of-place, once Kaiba started working, he zoned out completely. He didn't ask Joey for confirmation of the decision he made, he just executed them, moving pieces of information around, redecorating and reformatting as he saw fit.

Joey wondered why he had appeared in person at all.

Seto wondered why he'd even had Joey show up at all. He knew before hand that he didn't need to see the irritating blonde dog to get the work done. All he needed was the file. He didn't need Joey Wheeler staring at him stupidly and breathing down his neck while he had to work, and he didn't need Joey there to prevent him from yelling at Mokuba. (It wasn't that he enjoyed scolding the child, but when he told Mokuba he didn't have time to eat, he meant that he _didn't have time_.) It was impossible to get anything done properly with Joey there judging his every move…and he'd known that all along.

So why had he requested that the mutt show up?

"There, we're finished with that part," Seto said, leaning back in his chair and nodding at the computer screen. "I'll get the rest of it done when I get back from the meeting tomorrow night. If you have anything else you want thrown in, send it to me before seven tomorrow morning." He began shutting down the computer before Joey could even comment or make a suggestion.

Why had he asked the mutt to come here? Why?

He wanted to know why! It was throwing his whole evening off. He had a business report to make out and a letter to send to the school depicting, for the thousandth time, _why_ he couldn't make it to class and why the meeting trumped his education. (These letters were merely a legal formality by now. It was obvious to the world that he didn't need the high school education. He already had degrees.) He had all of these things to do and more, yet he'd asked for the blonde to show up?

_Why?_

"You okay?" Joey asked, snapping Seto out of his trance. The businessman felt flustered, but it didn't show. Ever since he was a child, he'd feel shame whenever he was caught while in a daze. Even before Gozaburo, even before his father had died…maybe since birth…The only difference was that, now, thanks to Gozaburo, he was capable of hiding that shame and embarrassment.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Seto snapped, crossing his arms and his legs while leaning back in his office chair.

Maybe that was the reason he'd had the dog come to its master—he loved seeing how inferior it was to him, loved leaving it speechless.

But if the mongrel was speechless, why was it talking?

"Well, you seem kind of stressed and…I dunno, _tired_."

"Tired?" Seto echoed dumbly. After the word was out, he couldn't retract it. Therefore, he had to run with it. "You don't know the first thing about being tired." It made him even angrier when Joey just shrugged as a response.

"You should _speak_ when you're spoken to." That ignited Joey's fuse which left Seto feeling satisfied.

He wanted his dog to speak, and it would speak for its master.

"Maybe I don't know what it feels like to be tired, but it doesn't mean I can't sympathize, you jerk! I was tryin' to be nice!" Seto smirked and Joey was still left fuming when Mokuba entered the room cautiously.

Joey _did_ know what it felt like to be tired, maybe not _as_ tired as Kaiba was, but tired enough. But he bit back his rage as best he could—Kaiba was tired, and Kaiba was stressed. The least Joey could do was try to be cooperative.

( ) ( ) ( )

When Joey got home, the first thing he did was punch the wall. It hurt his hand like hell, but he was mad enough that he didn't care. How many times had Kaiba called him some variation of the word "dog" during that meal? What the hell was wrong with that guy? Joey had tried as hard as he could to keep from yelling at him—telling himself over and over that Kaiba was stressed, Kaiba was tired, Kaiba was feeling overwhelmed—but damn it, that was no excuse to turn into a straight-up _bully_!

Joey bet that—that Kaiba even picked on Mokuba when no one else was around! That's probably why no one ever saw the kid duel unless he really had to. Because he always had his brother's voice in his head cutting him down!

After an hour of fuming and storming around his cramped, messy bedroom, Joey sank onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling. His rage dissipated, allowing clear thought, and small clouds of memory from health class exploded in his brain.

Every health class had some sort of section on bullying and psychology—usually before sex-ed and after nutrition. According to them, no one becomes bully because they want to—they just feel the need to belittle others because they lack confidence themselves.

Joey could see that in Kaiba. Yeah. It was obvious. Kaiba wanted to be intimidating and mean to others so no one would dare pick on him because he was…adopted? No, that wasn't right. Kaiba didn't seem like the type to care about that kind of thing. He was adopted, yeah, because he _wanted_ to be, and by being adopted he became a multi-millionaire. That was nothing to feel ashamed about.

So that couldn't be it.

So what was it? There _was_ something. Joey could taste the lack of confidence on the air in Kaiba's mansion, and it wasn't from Mokuba either.

Joey sat up and sighed heavily. Maybe he was just imagining it. Maybe it was just the stress the man was under or his exhaustion.

But wait…

Suddenly, it burst in Joey's brain.

It was so obvious. Why did Seto Kaiba feel the need to intimidate anyone he found that was weaker than himself? Because it had been done to him. And, by who? Gozaburo Kaiba. Why had Gozaburo tormented his adopted heir? Well, probably for two reasons.

He _wanted_ to make Seto into an intimidating, cruel businessman, and because _he_ was probably tormented by his father…and his father was terrorized by his father, and his father before him by his father—it was an endless chain of intimidation for the greater good.

Well, when he thought about it that way, it made Joey kind of sad. Kaiba probably didn't even notice that he was doing it or how hurtful he was being. (Well, his comments weren't exactly hurtful, they were just irritating.) And, if he _did_ know, he probably didn't know why. He was acting unconsciously.

And if that wasn't the truth? Joey pondered for a moment. If Kaiba knew how mean he was being, and did it on purpose, and knew why he was doing it…then he was doing it for revenge. In order to bring the same sort of hurt and ill-feelings onto someone else that had been pressed onto him.

Would that not mean that, deep down, Seto Kaiba was nothing more than a wounded kid?

Joey heard the front door slam and turned his head towards his bedroom door. The television switched on—he could hear the sudden voices—but the sound didn't drown out his father's angry mumbling.

Nothing more than a wounded kid with father issues…

Not unlike himself…

"You here, boy?" Joey's father called from the living room.

"Yeah!" Joey called back. "You need somethin'?"

"Nah! Just making sure." Apparently, his dad was in a good mood that night and Joey sighed in relief. He didn't have to hear any yelling—for at least a little while.

Kaiba…

Who knew he was so deep.

( ) ( ) ( )

**A/N: **Yes, Kaiba is seeing himself as Joey's master. Why? For no adequately explored reason as of yet except for his personal urge to educate all things inferior to himself. But he'd better watch out because Joey's on his tail—he's figured out one of Seto's secrets. How long before he tells Kaiba of this, and how long before he uncovers more?


	5. Nice

**Title: **Grave Robber

**Summary: **Seto wanted to take his secrets to the grave, but when a class project lands him and Joey closer than desired, those secrets become harder to protect than ever. Especially when Joey is discovering the common ground they share.

**Contains: **Yoai, lemon in random chapters, references to child abuse and molestation, sudden flashbacks, arguments, and occasionally ooc-ness

**Pairing: **Seto X Joey

**Disclaimer: **I do not own yu-gi-oh or the characters, I also make no money from the writing of this fanfic.

**Author's Note: **This chapter mainly focuses on Kaiba's romantic interest in Joey—and his surprising ability to annoy "his" blonde pup.

( ) ( ) ( )

Seto stood in the shower, hot water cascading over him while he forced his mind to relax the way his body had. The meeting had gone well, he'd gotten his work done for the day perfectly—he'd have more to do tomorrow, but until then he had nothing to worry over. However, it was hard to get his mind to relax. Not only were his thoughts not used to slowing, it was hard to keep them from wandering where he didn't want them to when they were free.

Whenever he'd start to think over all of the work he'd finished, his thoughts would end on his and Joey's project.

That was unacceptable because, when he thought of the project, he thought of Joey. He didn't want Joey in his head. Whenever he was…

Seto's breath caught in his throat when he realized where his hand had lowered to.

God, he was repulsed with himself. But it was too late now…The only thing he could do was succumb, erase the need from his mind, and make sure every last bit of the evidence was washed down the drain.

He couldn't very well have the servants find it. Maybe some employers didn't care if the cleaning staff found the evidence of their boss's lust, but Seto Kaiba did. He had an image to upkeep, even for them. As far as he was concerned, it was best that they thought he was the only man who never masturbated. That was one more thing that put him above everyone else.

Put him above that dog, that _mutt_. Dogs are always humping their masters' legs—what would make Wheeler any different? Ha! He was probably one of those boys whose first priority in the morning was jacking off, then once again before bed—probably even fitting three more times in between morning and night.

He wouldn't have to do that if he would just go to his master for help. His master would…

His master would…

Seto reached his climax, but made no noise louder than the rush of the shower's water. He had an image to upkeep…that way no one saw what a disgusting, mangy mutt he was himself.

Maybe that was why the stupid blonde dog—stupid blonde _male_ dog—was always bounding around in his mind at the most critical _and_ pointless of times, causing him to desecrate his self-image and nauseate himself.

Gozaburo had always said his step son was nothing more than a mongrel that had learned to walk upright somehow. Dogs don't lust after humans—not when there's another mutt walking around at least. Dogs want to hump other dogs and only when there isn't one around they settle for the master's leg.

Seto could have been one of those businessmen with a woman attached to his arm at all times, but women weren't dogs—not even the bitches and sluts. No…What Seto wanted was another dog, not arm candy that he could get pregnant and have slander him the day he refuses to buy her a designer gown.

Seto wanted his mutt. But his mutt didn't see him as a master.

With a sigh, Seto turned off the shower and listened to the water as it dripped from him and from the walls.

Probably for the thousandth time, Seto Kaiba wanted something he could never have.

( ) ( ) ( )

They'd had the weekend off to work on their project, but in class on Monday the teacher said it was an "in-class work day". For most groups that was cause for a sigh of relief. For Kaiba, apparently, it was cause for a sigh of indifference.

Joey moved to a desk closer to the tired-looking businessman who had immediately started up his laptop and watched as he entered in all of the necessary codes.

"It's finished," Kaiba said, opening the file and turning the computer to face Joey. "I fixed up some of your things, but it was nothing major. I left some mistakes so everyone knows you helped." Joey gritted his teeth and growled. "All that's left to do now is decide who says what when we present."

"I'll read my part and you'll read your part," Joey spat. "Simple as that!"

"Fine," Kaiba replied dryly, turning the screen back to himself just as the teacher walked up behind them. "I think I have time tonight to rehearse this with you before we present tomorrow. But if we really want to be proficient about this, you should stay the night at my house so we can practice during the few breaks I have in my schedule."

Joey thought he was about to choke on his tongue. What a manipulative gesture. The last thing Joey wanted to do was stay the night in Kaiba's mansion so the rich boy could rub his money in his face—but with the teacher hovering, he had no choice but to accept or else it really _would_ look like Kaiba had done all of the work.

"Whatever," Joey muttered. "Not like my dad's gonna care too much if I'm gone."

"Oh," Kaiba sneered. "Do I need to have Mommy and Daddy arrange a play date?" Joey snarled and the teacher slapped him on the shoulder as he walked by. Of course, it was _always_ his fault—never the instigator, always the one defending himself.

( ) ( ) ( )

Joey had slunk into the mansion like a beaten dog after Seto had finished dinner. He had been planning to yell at the disobedient hound for neglecting his master's command—to arrive before dinner—but the pup's wounded nature made him bite his tongue.

Seto surprised himself. He even kept his voice friendly and avoided making any snide remarks.

"This way," Seto said, nudging a servant aside. "I'll show you the room where you can put your things." He looked Joey in the eyes—because he looked everyone in the eye when he talked to him—and saw a cloud of apathy mixed with a heavy streak of pain in them. He didn't look long enough to allow the mutt to know he was, in fact, _looking_, and turned to lead the dog upstairs. "There's a bathroom attached to your room so you won't have to go searching for one and I think there're paper cups so you won't need to go hunting for a glass of water.

Joey's brain was turning into a pretzel. Kaiba was actually being semi-nice. His tone was indifferent, but he didn't say anything cruel and he had yet to say anything comparing Joey with a certain four-legged creature. Something must really like him, Joey decided, if it was willing to alter Kaiba's character and make him be nearly friendly. Joey was especially thankful since he'd just participated in, and lost, a particularly lengthy—albeit pointless—shouting match.

"Did you eat?" Seto asked.

"What?" Joey questioned, obviously in a daze as he tossed his filthy-looking bag of clothes onto one of the three chairs in the large guestroom.

"Did you eat? Have you eaten?" Seto glared at him slightly. No matter who it was, employee, step father, younger brother, or ignorant, abused dog, he hated repeating himself.

"Oh," Joey answered. "No."

"I'll have someone bring you up something. I have some work I need to get done before I can help with our project, but I shouldn't be long." Joey just stared at him dumbly and Seto didn't know what to do. It would have helped if the dog had replied, but he didn't feel like scolding it.

He didn't feel like praising it either, so he refrained from patting its shoulder before walking out of the room and retreating to his office.

Joey watched him leave, feeling like the apocalypse was about to occur. Not because he'd left his house practically without his father's solid permission, but because—though it was very hard to fathom—Seto Kaiba was being nice…to him.

( ) ( ) ( )

**A/N:** Well, it's obvious how Seto feels, but what about Joey? Does Kaiba really just want a dog to control, or does he want a free-willed human?


	6. Prove it

**Title: **Grave Robber

**Summary: **Seto wanted to take his secrets to the grave, but when a class project lands him and Joey closer than desired, those secrets become harder to protect than ever. Especially when Joey is discovering the common ground they share.

**Contains: **Yoai, lemon in random chapters, references to child abuse and molestation, sudden flashbacks, arguments, and occasionally ooc-ness

**Pairing: **Seto X Joey

**Disclaimer: **I do not own yu-gi-oh or the characters, I also make no money from the writing of this fanfic.

**Author's Note: **This chapter jumps back and forth from what Kaiba thinks to what Joey is thinking. Just remember, when Seto Kaiba is referred to as Kaiba, it's Joey thinking and when he is referred to as Seto, it's Kaiba thinking.

( ) ( ) ( )

It seemed like an eternity after the maid servant brought Joey his dinner (a remarkable treat that immediately lifted Joey's mood as soon as he realized that it smelled as good as it looked and tasted just as spectacular as it smelled) at Kaiba's command that the CEO finally reappeared himself. Joey had had time to finish the exquisitely-presented "leftovers", made small talk to the maid servant who came to reclaim the dishes, and then wandered around the room he'd been put into. It was pretty nice, like a ritzy hotel. There were two chairs, a couch, several tables and stands, a dresser, a closet, a large bed, a bookshelf, and a writing desk with its own chair and lamp…

Just as Joey had decided to leave the room and wander the hallway instead of just the guestroom, Kaiba finally made his appearance. He'd shed his white and mauve duster and the gesture, which Joey would have typically overlooked, left the blonde feeling a bit confused. First, Seto Kaiba had been nice to him, and now he'd become impersonal enough to shed off his custom-made, one-of-a-kind, trademark coat in his presence.

Without that signature coat on, or one exceedingly similar to it, Kaiba just seemed smaller. His shoulders were narrower without the coat's flair, and he looked so much weaker, so much frailer, without the billowing coattails. When he was just dressed in the black turtleneck and pants, he looked like anybody. He looked so ordinary that Joey was almost surprised. Sure, Kaiba looked like everyone else when he wore his school uniform, but that was because he was _required_ to. Here, in his own home, free to flaunt his riches and his achievements, he decided to strip himself of that distinguishing garment.

Why? Because the house and all of the things in it were symbolic enough of his wealth and success? No. That wasn't it at all. For Seto Kaiba, that wouldn't be enough. Seto Kaiba always behaved as if he needed to prove something to someone—as if someone doubted his power. The house and all of its belongings, the company, the employees, and the servants were all tools to express that success and wealth. His coats were tools. Why did he need so many devices?

Joey had a pretty good idea about _that_, even if he couldn't figure out what Kaiba meant by stripping himself of that coat—did he just take it off because he'd grown tired of wearing it all day? or was he trying to communicate something else?

Perhaps the reason why Kaiba needed big houses, companies, employees, and custom-made duster-coats was because the only person he had trouble proving himself to was himself.

"I printed out what we need. My eyes could use a break from the screen." Joey could hardly believe it. Seto Kaiba had just admitted a weakness—not a massive or important one, but it was one enough. First he was nice, then he stripped himself of his self-assuring coat, now admitting that his eyes were _tired_? What was he trying to do?

Seto looked at Joey slightly puzzled. He was being stared at as if he'd walked in without any pants on and then took off his shirt. The puppy's eyes went from slightly confused to nearly horrified in a matter of seconds.

Mentally, Seto scanned every possibility that could have caused the pet to act in such a way. The first cause was easy to identify—he'd been too nice to the pup when he'd first arrived. But how could he not? He'd looked as if he'd just been beaten—you don't beat something that's already injured.

But why had he gotten even more…flabbergasted.

"What's your problem, Wheeler?" Seto spat when he couldn't come up with an answer. That took the dumbstruck look off of the dog's face. "We have work to do. I want to get to bed before midnight so I don't end up—what is your _problem_?"

He did it again! Seto Kaiba was obviously trying to break some sort of barrier between them. It all made sense. His eyes were fatigued, he didn't want to appear tired at work—he was emphasizing his humanness! But why? For what purpose?

Not many things made Kaiba feel uncomfortable, but being stared at like he was naked made him nervous. He didn't like it at all.

"Here," Seto barked, thrusting half of the pages he'd printed out in Joey's direction. "This is your half to present," he added when Joey took them, "And this is mine." He held up the other half of the pages and let his eyes narrow into a glare. Joey met his glare and Seto allowed it to intensify until the mutt looked away.

"Are you gonna sit down or are you just gonna stand there all night, rich boy?" Joey grumbled after turning his eyes away and then quickly back. Seto moved over to the small circle of furniture at the far side of the room and sat down in one of the available chairs. It wasn't long before Joey claimed the other, muttering something snide to himself.

( ) ( ) ( )

The practice had gone oddly well and Joey was surprised by it. Once Kaiba became focused—after nearly ten minutes of chiding comments whenever Joey would open his mouth—he became exceedingly efficient. He made suggestions to help improve Joey's presentation skills without sounding arrogant, and even acknowledged suggestions that Joey made.

It was like he became an entirely different person when he was working, but Joey didn't dare comment on that. He knew that if he did Kaiba would just say something along the line of "It's my grade too, so I'm not going to let you mess it up for me because you don't know how speak, you dog". So, Joey didn't bother.

"What were you so upset about when you first got here, Wheeler?" Seto blurted out after deciding that practice had gone on too long already and it was time to stop. Joey's eye twitched.

"None of your business," Joey hissed in response. Kaiba just blinked in response, eyes lacking intrigue and offense. Joey felt a pang of guilt and turned his eyes toward the floor. "My dad and I got in a fight. It's nothing important, happens all the time." The last person Joey wanted to discuss dads with was Kaiba. Kaiba's real father was dead, his stepfather had been a psychopath, and Kaiba himself was practically a dad himself.

Joey had a feeling that, whatever he said, Kaiba would have a comeback prepared to make his father look like the good guy and make him look horrible for feeling ill will against the man. He knew Kaiba would never say "Be glad you have a father, at least", but that didn't mean he wasn't thinking it. Joey expect him to say "I'd be pissed off, too, if I had a mutt for a son", but Kaiba surprised him.

"Is he a high-strung kind of guy or the constantly aggravated type?" Kaiba's face remained indifferent and Joey could hardly believe that Seto Kaiba a.k.a moneybags was making idle conversation with _him_.

"Uh…a bit of both, actually," Joey answered, still stunned. "More aggravated than high-strung though." Kaiba looked as if he were going to say something, but just huffed instead. "Gozaburo seemed more like…the high-strung type," Joey commented quietly. Kaiba's eyes met his accusingly and he felt as if he'd stepped on a landmine.

"Yeah," Kaiba responded. "He was." The brunette stood up stiffly from his seat and left the room without saying any more. Joey remained seated and felt a bit paranoid.

It was as if the evening had been a dream—nothing about it seemed real. Not Kaiba's behavior, and not his own…but it seemed appropriate to act the way he had. After all, he was in Kaiba's house and completely at his mercy. It would be for the best for him to act polite and agreeable.

However, Joey couldn't help but feel guilty. When he brought up Gozaburo, Kaiba's eyes had immediately turned defensive and intense. That meant Kaiba had felt something, an emotion that he refused to acknowledge and express.

Most people would think it was because Kaiba hated Gozaburo, found his stepfather to be a figure in his life that had gotten in his way and wasted his time preparing him for things he didn't care to know. Those a bit closer would assume that Kaiba hated the man because he'd turned him into something else, something unfriendly and selfish.

Joey felt that there was something there other than hatred, perhaps admiration or respect strewn in with it that kept Kaiba grounded with Gozaburo's memory. Gozaburo had raised Kaiba…or at least attempted to. Joey didn't know much about their relationship before Kaiba acquired the ability to capture the man's company like a medieval castle, but something had to have happened that made Kaiba bitter.

He had stolen Gozaburo's company, why didn't he flaunt that like he did his wealth? Wear it on his sleeve in replacement of his heart? Beam with pride whenever Gozaburo Kaiba was mentioned because he, Seto, an orphan, had defeated that man when he was just a kid?

Joey guessed that he did flaunt that victory…he kept the last name Kaiba even though he appeared to despise the man who had owned it.

So why did he still seem bruised at the mention of the man's name? Seto Kaiba was _better_ than Gozaburo Kaiba. He'd proven that to the world…

Joey's head seemed to be running around in circles.

He'd come to the same conclusion as before.

Kaiba had proven it to the world, but he hadn't proven it to himself.

( ) ( ) ( )

**A/N:** Joey's more perceptive than Kaiba thinks, isn't he?


	7. Attack Dog

**Title: **Grave Robber

**Summary: **Seto wanted to take his secrets to the grave, but when a class project lands him and Joey closer than desired, those secrets become harder to protect than ever. Especially when Joey is discovering the common ground they share.

**Contains: **Yoai, lemon in random chapters, references to child abuse and molestation, sudden flashbacks, arguments, and occasionally ooc-ness

**Pairing: **Seto X Joey

**Disclaimer: **I do not own yu-gi-oh or the characters, I also make no money from the writing of this fanfic.

**Author's Note: **This chapter is abrupt in more ways than one. Try to keep up.

( ) ( ) ( )

Ten minutes until ten thirty…Ten minutes…Okay, so he had ten minutes to answer seven essay questions. What was seven divided into ten? Okay, so he had about a minute and a half to answer each question… What was the first question? Okay…yeah, he knew the answer to that. Three sentences was the minimum…thank god he could write fast, even with the intense pressure of the exceedingly tight leather collar bound about his neck…

Okay…there were six more to go…seven minutes left? No! He needed to write faster! But that collar was so tight…it was making him gag. But there wasn't time to gag! Second question, what was the second question? …He didn't know the answer to that. He'd have to think about it…but there wasn't time to think about it! He needed to know NOW! Right now, before Gozaburo showed up to check his progress.

Before he…

"The work isn't done!" Gozaburo was already here. But how? He wasn't there a second ago! And already…_Slam!_ He had punched the desk Seto worked at. With a swift hand, Gozaburo had grabbed him by the dog collar around his neck and shook him.

He continued shouting, but it was as if Seto had gone deaf—he couldn't hear what he was saying. All he could do was feel the pain as he was pulled up from his seat and as he was shoved backwards hard enough that he collided with the table. When he was pushed by the man again his knees gave out and he fell back onto the desk, his head hitting the table with enough force that his vision split.

Then his hearing returned.

"The work isn't done! Nothing gets done around here! You're wasting my money! You're wasting my _time!_" Everything turned into a blur. He was fighting to get up from the table, Gozaburo was holding him down—why was he holding him down? The man's grip on his forearms was so strong…Seto felt as though his bones would break under the pressure.

Gozaburo released one of Seto's arms, but only to free a hand so he could strike. With no reserve, the older man struck at the boy's face—sending Seto's head repeatedly into the hard table. The man's hand collided with his face continuously, sometimes hitting his jaw, other times his ear, his nose, striking his eye or pounding against his temple.

If he tried to lift his freed hand to defend himself against the blows, Gozaburo would just grab it and shove it away and continue on. Seto felt blood run from his mouth as he shouted at the man, making any threat he could think of—telling the press, calling the police. Whatever he did, if this was a test, he didn't want to appear weak and inferior before the man…he would not submit—lay there and sob and plead for the pain to end.

He would fight…or at least try to.

The remaining hand that pinned Seto to the table was released for a moment but, before Seto could worm away, the hand had clamped onto his throat, pressing down on the thick and heavy leather collar he was forced to wear and cut off his air supply.

Seto had clawed at the hand, trying to pry it away and becoming more and more desperate as shadows appeared at the corners of his vision and his lungs became enflamed…but his efforts grew more disoriented and weaker as each second ticked by.

He needed a breath or he felt he would die. His vision was growing black, his body had seemingly gone numb…He didn't deserve this... Seto could feel his entire body going limp, his only free hand collapsing on the table weakly, fingers curling feebly.

But he didn't want to die… He felt so helpless, but too confused to know whether or not he wanted someone to burst in the room to save him.

He was supposed to be a man, wasn't he? He should have been able to fight his step father off… He didn't want caught dead wearing that collar… Maybe it was best if no one came… it would feel good to sleep for a while…

To succumb to the shadows for a little while.

But one world's sleep was another's consciousness…

Seto rolled onto his side and gazed at the clock…Three thirty… of course it was. It was always too early to feel fully rested and too late to think going back to sleep was an option.

He sat up rigidly and brushed the tips of his fingers across on side of his neck. All that remained from that night, the fourth time that Gozaburo had ever acted violently against him, were the scars where the leather of the degrading collar had grated against his skin as he'd struggled to get loose while he still had the drive…scars he had to spend the rest of his life trying to hide.

It was so repulsive!

Seto flung the sheets off of himself and got out of bed. He was sick of having worthless memories bombard him in the night. What good did it do? Reliving the most humiliating moments of his entire life, every night like a fucking tragedy movie montage…It was all that mutt's fault, that dog.

Everyone knew what type of man his father was—Seto had heard the blonde mutt's friends discussing it once. Oh, he wasn't one to eavesdrop, but those brats had to talk so loud all of the time. He didn't care to hear about that dog's troubles! He didn't care about them! But knowing that that mutt was going home to a master that beat him reminded him of that worthless businessman.

He stormed into his room's attached bathroom and shed his nightclothes. He was up at three-thirty? Fine! He'd just start his work day that much earlier. He'd take a shower, get dressed, go to his office and get some damned work done before that dog that was chewing the furniture in his guest room woke up and demanded attention…

( ) ( ) ( )

"Get up!" Joey jolted and fell straight off the edge of the bed and onto the floor. Once the initial surprise had worn off, he found himself more annoyed that he'd fallen off the edge of a massive bed that he should have been sleeping in the middle of than at being awoken by shouting. The shouting he was used to, falling onto million dollar floors he was not. "I won't have you missing a meal so you can complain about how I didn't feed you later, you mutt." Joey peered over the edge of the bed after managing to sit up through the mess of blankets that swarmed him. He met Kaiba's gaze with annoyance, but only grumbled a few words in response. "You can find the dining room yourself. You don't have time to take a shower right now, so just keep wearing…that...and then wash up later." Kaiba retreated from the doorway in a flourish of coattail and disappeared down the hall.

"Rich bastard," Joey grumbled to himself, pulling away and crawling back onto the bed at the same time. As he considered returning to sleep, his stomach screamed in protest and he just kept crawling until he slid off the other side—leaving the blankets behind as he stood up from the floor.

Finding the dining room had been no trouble at all…thanks to a maid he'd passed in the hall who helped him find the right place with a plastic smile and artificial politeness.

Kaiba was sitting at the head of the table and reading something off his laptop which occupied the table space on his right. Mokuba sat at his left, and a place had been set for Joey beside him.

Based on the shifted angle of the plate on the placemat and the disheveled appearance of the silverware on his napkin in relation to the off center place for his drink, Joey assumed that the arrangement had been moved from either the floor (since, to Kaiba, he _was_ a dog) or from the farthest side of the table possible.

For Mokuba's sake, Joey pretended he didn't notice.

"Seto," Mokuba said oddly quietly after quite a few minutes ticked by. Kaiba hummed in response. "…Can you—"

"I don't have time right now, Mokuba," Kaiba interjected, not taking his eyes from the screen. The child looked down at his plate discouraged, but not remarkably upset, but Joey was staring at the brunette in shock.

"You didn't even hear what he had to say!" Joey stated, thinking out loud but not too ashamed of it.

"Not now, you dog," Kaiba grumbled, hardly putting any effort into the argument.

"Seto," Mokuba scolded. "Joey, really, it's not that big of a deal."

"No, it is a big deal! If he can't multitask—answer a question and work at the same time—then he's not as good of a businessman as everyone keeps spouting, is he?"

"Joey," Mokuba said in a firm, cautioning voice.

"I mean, you don't even let him finish his sentence! Everyone always says how nice you are to take care of your little brother—what would they say if—"

"If what?" Kaiba barked, turning his blue eyes from the screen and locking them with Joey's. "What's to say? Did I hit him?"

"S-Seto…"

"Did I get in his face and start shouting? Did I push him into the table? No! I guess there's nothing to say then, is there, you filthy mutt? So shut your mouth before I get a muzzle and do it for you!"

"Seto," Mokuba mumbled. "It's just Joey, calm down."

"Dogs can still bark if they've got muzzles on," Joey grumbled, not wanting to lose the argument, but not wanting the fight to escalate either.

"Can they still bark if they're dead, because I think I know someone who can put a dog your size down for very little money down."

"Seto!"

"In fact, I think this guy even disposes of the body for me. How kind is that?"

"So now you're making death threats? Real mature," Joey argued, looking at his plate but sporting no appetite.

What was he doing? Just the night before, he had actually connected a few dots in the messed up jumble of the rich kid's brain, and now he was tearing into him as if nothing had changed. Surly he was better than that, right?

"Is there some point you're trying to make by attacking me?" Kaiba demanded. Joey looked up from his plate. "Because I don't get it." He looked as though he had more to say, but his eyes darted in Mokuba's direction briefly and that said enough. That look that Mokuba probably felt but didn't see said 'I'm working a non-stop shift and raising a kid; you think you could do better?' Maybe Kaiba didn't mean it to say that, but that's what Joey interpreted.

And it made sense.

Though the night had passed, Kaiba was still tired, and he was still stressed. Nothing had changed from the night before. His body may have rested, but Joey doubted that the man's mind ever did.

( ) ( ) ( )

**A/N: **A relatively abrupt ending, but I don't want to have a really, really long chapter when it can be broken in half logically. For the sake of an update, as well, I shall end this chapter here.

No one in this mansion is a morning person…


	8. Matters of Pride

**Title: **Grave Robber

**Summary: **Seto wanted to take his secrets to the grave, but when a class project lands him and Joey closer than desired, those secrets become harder to protect than ever. Especially when Joey is discovering the common ground they share.

**Contains: **Yoai, lemon in random chapters, references to child abuse and molestation, sudden flashbacks, arguments, and occasionally ooc-ness

**Pairing: **Seto X Joey

**Disclaimer: **I do not own yu-gi-oh or the characters, I also make no money from the writing of this fanfic.

**Author's Note:** In order to actually turn this into a romance, I had no choice but to make Seto slightly ooc. It isn't major, at least I don't think so, I just have him show a bit of what he's thinking and express what he's feeling…a bit abruptly.

And let's face it, if someone doesn't do something "spur of the moment" here, the two of them would just go back to normal the instant their project is done, right?

( ) ( ) ( )

Everyone who dared to look noticed that Kaiba was staring ahead of him as if in shock at the words that had come out of the substitute teacher's mouth. While everyone else was sighing in relief or verbally cheering at the one day postponement of the inevitable presentation, he looked as though he were about to scream in horror. No one knew why he was so upset by the miniscule change in plan that was so relieving to everyone else…

No one except Joey. He could easily see that this change in plans completely overshadowed all of the effort he'd put into the hasty completion of their project. All of his diligence was in vain…

The only thing Joey didn't understand was why Kaiba allowed that shock to show on his face…and for so long. He had to have noticed it.

After several minutes his face fell back to an annoyed and uninterested expression that didn't change, even after the substitute gave the students free time to make any last minute changes on their projects.

"Anything you think we need to work on?" Joey asked him after deciding to approach him. Kaiba just stiffened his shoulders. "I take that as a no then," Joey added, backing off a step.

"We could use more practice," Kaiba snapped before Joey could take the initiative to leave. "I'll have my driver pick you up at your house after school today. I'd bring you over after school, but I have stops to make on the way that I don't need you tailing along with."

"That's fine, but—"

"It'll be easier if you just stay the night again. That's not a problem, is it?" Kaiba shot his eyes into Joey's and the blonde stumbled with his words. Those eyes didn't look mean, they looked…looked… Joey wanted to say seductive, but that was entirely out of context! Perhaps the _appropriate_ word was mischievous…but that had bad connotative meanings, too. Whatever those eyes held, Joey found himself spitting out the exact opposite of what he'd needed to say.

"No. That's fine. I'll…yeah, stay."

"Good," Kaiba retorted. "I'll be by sometime after school. Give me your address." Joey recited it to him, even though his brain mumbled that the rich boy probably already knew where he lived.

( ) ( ) ( )

Kaiba arrived in an expensive-looking black car almost two hours after school was over. Joey, nursing a screaming shoulder and sucking on a bloody lip, was thankful for that. His ears were still ringing from the fight he'd had with his father, he didn't want to have to anticipate another upon his return home the next day regarding a stretch limo that was somehow embarrassing…or whatever other nonsense the drunk could come up with.

Joey opened the door to the back seat quickly and slid inside, setting his bag on the floor by his feet and ignoring the look that the driver (who had been preparing to get out in order to open the door for him) passed him. Kaiba was sitting nearly as close to the other door as one could possibly get, and didn't even turn his eyes in Joey's direction until they were halfway to his mansion.

"What are you staring at?" Joey grumbled after the glance turned into a straight-out gawk.

"Your mouth is bleeding," Kaiba said stiffly, blinking his eyes slowly. Joey found himself more focused on those eyes than the words Kaiba was saying. "I don't want you to get blood on my upholstery." Did he blink like that on purpose? He had to! He did it again!

It was that stereotypic, slow-motion blink with the heavy eyelashes and lidded look.

Immediately, Joey turned his head away. Kaiba was just tired, he told him. That was why he was blinking seductively. He was too tired to keep his eyes open…

And if not that, then Kaiba was just trying to creep him out…or legitimately seduce him.

There was no doubt in Joey's mind that it was his first assumption…

Someone had beaten his pathetic puppy in his absence, Seto noted. The pup hadn't looked like that when he'd left the school…so either he'd been jumped on his way home—unlikely—or it was his father.

He grunted in disgust and turned his head to look out his window. It didn't take much effort to keep himself under control, but it was hard to keep his heart still in his chest. He felt as if he were nervous, or frightened, and it pissed him off that he didn't know why.

To Joey, it seemed as if Kaiba was…paranoid about something. Was it _normal_ for him to show that kind of emotion? No, it wasn't normal for him to show anything except annoyance, rage, and indifference. He gave up feeling surprised though, since Kaiba had already let his guard drop several times before when he had been around…now, Joey just wondered what had—well—freaked the guy out.

The prospect of getting a little bit of blood in his car? Not likely at all. That was something to become irate over, not nervous.

To hell with it, Joey was tired of guessing.

"Is something wrong, you're acting really weird," Joey said as he and the young CEO stormed into the mansion. (Kaiba stormed…Joey just followed after him.)

"It's nothing that concerns you, you mutt. Mind your own business." Joey glared at him behind his back and gritted his teeth as he handed his bag off to a waiting maid. If he hadn't already had his taste of a good fight today, he felt for sure he would start shouting. After losing the argument with his father and ending up with a split lip, he wasn't in the mood. He knew he'd lose that spat, too. Kaiba wouldn't ever let him win.

Joey followed as Kaiba led him through the mansion and to a nearly vacant sitting room…or perhaps it was an office. There was a desk with a laptop and lamp at the far wall, two chairs in one corner, and a couch in the center of the room that was the size of Joey's entire apartment. That is to say, the room was mostly empty space.

The instant the door was closed behind them, Joey felt the entire earth shift. Something changed, and for a minute he didn't know what—but he could feel it. The change was palpable on the air.

"Did your father do that to your face?" Kaiba asked with a reserved tone that indicated one of his three most common emotions—indifference.

"Why don't you mind your own business?" Joey muttered in response, intentionally spitting Kaiba's words back at him. The brunette turned to face him, and his expression was anything but apathetic.

And they all said Kaiba would be one great poker player…Joey could see the anger that was somehow different from his usual irate attitude. Perhaps what rested behind those intensely burning blue eyes was concern…a weak form of unease, but it was there. And Kaiba was definitely not happy that Joey could see it.

He turned his face away and skulked over to the laptop which he forced into life.

Seto felt as if something in his brain was falling apart…and it was probably his sanity. Yeah, he noticed that it had been slipping, but that damn mutt parading around his house was making his mental deterioration speed up.

So why did he keep calling the dog over? In all honesty, they didn't need any more practice…he knew that he just wanted him around…

For his mind's sake, he told himself it was so he could have something to shout at and relieve his tensions…but seeing his pet injured—even as superficially as it was—made him feel less like shouting at it and more like…like _hugging_ it. He wanted to touch it…make it real. Prove to himself that…

That what?

His thoughts abruptly stopped as he realized the dog was now at his side, drumming its tail heedlessly against the floor with one of its filthy paws on his shoulder.

"Wheeler," Kaiba said stiffly. Joey forgot was he was going to say when those positively _humored_ eyes turned to him. "Take your hand off of me…" Joey pulled his hand back away and sighed. _Some_ people were comforted by touch…apparently Kaiba wasn't one of them.

He had to admit though, Kaiba hadn't reacted how he had expected. He'd planned on getting yelled at—in fact, he was anticipating it. Anything to break the tension and to end that horrible altered feeling that the world had suddenly possessed. He hadn't expected the man to snicker to himself…or then refocus his attention from the quickly loading laptop back to their previous, brief conversation.

"Did your father do that to your mouth?" He asked, his expression and his eyes becoming vacant. Once again, it was obvious that he did care, but he was hiding it. Didn't he know that his annoyance with it was already obvious?

"What's it to you?" Joey asked. "It's none of your business." He met Kaiba's eyes firmly, and then felt his widen as Kaiba's became suddenly alert—as if something had pricked him with a needle…and it made him really, really mad.

Before Joey could even manage to find words that he thought would sufficiently erase that wrath that had appeared out of nowhere, Kaiba had laid hands on him and forced him against the wall, pinning him by the shoulders.

"It _is_ my business," Seto felt himself say. There it was—insanity. He had gone insane and he knew it. "He shouldn't be hitting you." If he didn't bite his tongue, literally, bite his tongue clean in half, he was ruined. Whoever this madman was that had taken over his brain was going to ruin him. "You're mine."

The instant Kaiba had choked the words out, his eyes betrayed his own surprise at them. Joey, still trying to stammer out a coherent _word_ kept his eyes level with Kaiba's just to make sure he didn't miss something and say the wrong things.

"You mean your…partner for the project," Joey said, the realization finally hitting him. Of course—yeah, it made sense. Kaiba was stressed and tired…that sometimes caused people to have "episodes". Kaiba was worried that everyone would see his split lip while they were presenting and think _he_ caused it.

That might damage his reputation if the idea was taken seriously.

"No," Kaiba said, smashing Joey's interpretation to pieces. "You're just mine."

Seto lifted one of his hands from Joey's shoulder and wiped a small smear of blood from beneath his pet's lower lip. After saying the words, the madman released him, leaving Seto to try and salvage the event.

How he wished the dog would just say something. It would be easier to come up with something to say if the awful silence was broken. The pup just seemed to be in a daze…

Save it, how could he save it? He couldn't take it back…that would make an even bigger mess. Then he would be the possessive madman who was _ashamed_ of it… So he could run with it. He'd look like a complete psychopath, but at least he'd be without the evident indignity.

He was Seto Kaiba, if he didn't have his pride, he was nothing.

"_Just_ mine," he repeated as he pulled away. His usual indifference reappeared and Joey remained standing up against the wall rigidly without knowing what to do, say, or think.

( ) ( ) ( )

**A/N: **I tried to show what both of them are thinking as best as I could without being too focused on one or the other at critical moments. I don't think it was too badly ooc...kind of just a hasty summation of what could take weeks to have happen naturally…


	9. Making it Worse

**Title: **Grave Robber

**Summary: **Seto wanted to take his secrets to the grave, but when a class project lands him and Joey closer than desired, those secrets become harder to protect than ever. Especially when Joey is discovering the common ground they share.

**Contains: **Yoai, lemon in random chapters, references to child abuse and molestation, sudden flashbacks, arguments, and occasionally ooc-ness

**Pairing: **Seto X Joey

**Disclaimer: **I do not own yu-gi-oh or the characters, I also make no money from the writing of this fanfic.

**Author's Note:** A tiny shred of a lime in this chapter, followed by many rampant thoughts and confliction. We've known from the beginning how Kaiba feels, but what about Joey? Maybe it's about time we all found out.

( ) ( ) ( )

Practice? Kaiba had brought him over here to practice? For some reason—some exceedingly _obvious _reason—Joey really doubted that. Maybe it had been his plan at first, but it obviously wasn't anymore.

His heart was pounding in his chest as the brunette with the electric blue eyes stared him down as he practiced going over his portions of the project. He could no longer focus on how badly his shoulder hurt or how much his split lip stung…all he could feel was Kaiba's hand wiping his blood away.

Kaiba didn't need practice…he just recited his parts apathetically and then declared that he'd be a bit more animated when it actually came time to present.

It was obvious, however, that there was no real need for him to stay the night…He was as good as he was going to be at this… And Joey could honestly say that he didn't think he could stand to go over it one more time… He'd lose what was left of his mind.

"Can we just stop?" Joey asked. "I think we've both had enough of this."

"I think I'll be the judge of that, Wheeler," Kaiba retorted, his eyes narrowing. Joey sighed heavily and sank down on the couch.

"Come on," Joey groaned. "Let's just give it a break. I'm exhausted…"

"You're lazy," Kaiba responded straightening himself from the wall by the desk where he had been leaning.

"I'm not lazy—I'm _tired!_" Joey argued. "And I'm hungry. Isn't it time to eat yet?"

"Who said anything about eating?" Kaiba responded with ice in his voice. Joey straightened from his relaxed position and met the man's unhappy gaze with a look of confusion.

"You can't tell me we're skipping dinner to work on this thing," he said in disbelief and annoyance. "You're perfect and I'm as good as I'm ever going to get—let's give it a rest!"

Seto knew that a threat of a missed meal would set Joey off. He knew it, and yet he still wanted to laugh in surprise when it worked. That was the only thing that distracted him…the rest of his mind was still in a mad panic from what he'd allowed himself to do. From where he stood, he could see no way of escaping from the mess he'd made…all he could do was pretend it never happened or make it worse.

He didn't know which one was the best choice. Obviously, for his own protection and for the preservation of his self-image, the best option was to pretend that nothing had happened. Joey would come to conclusions on his own, he'd been making up excuses for everything Seto had done since the first time they'd worked together—even the small things—now, with a serious incident, he would have no choice but to think about it…He couldn't possibly overlook it.

But what would he think? That was what Seto wanted to know. What would he think of it?

As it was, it seemed that the pet was trying not to think of it. He was more focused on his empty stomach…

Maybe the issue could just drop and disappear… If Joey couldn't find an answer, Seto was sure he'd just give up. Working hard and thinking hard didn't seem like the mutt's favorite activities…

If he didn't do anything else—if he didn't make it worse—Joey would probably forget it had happened… After all, nothing really major had happened…he'd just gotten that…that person…that _dog's_ blood in his hands.

See? Seto thought to himself. There wasn't anything to worry about at all.

As long as he didn't. mess. it. up.

"How about this," Kaiba said. Joey glowered at his from the couch, not liking his tone. "I'll let you have dinner if you do one thing that I say."

"Fine," Joey answered, looking in his classmate's eyes and searching for any sparks that he didn't like. There were a lot of them…and Kaiba was drawing closer to him…standing right in front of him and staring at him with those eyes that were dancing with menace and a vicious little smirk dwelling on his lips.

Then those eyes turned away from Joey's to look down at his slowly scabbing lip.

"Tell me," Kaiba said, meeting Joey's gaze once again. "Did your father do that to you?" Joey managed to glare at him for about half a second before he felt compelled to lose his rage. Kaiba looked so sympathetic…so…concerned.

"Yeah," Joey said, lowering his head for just a moment. "I said something that set him off." He didn't want to have his eyes off of Kaiba for long—not in _fear_ that Kaiba would try to touch him again, but just so that he would know if he tried.

"Did you hit him back?" Kaiba asked, his face suddenly looking apathetic and cold. Joey could see nothing in the blue eyes…but he could tell by their unwavering intensity that Kaiba was a lot more interested than he was behaving.

"Wouldn't have done me any good," Joey said, his face becoming as blank as Kaiba's. "Can we eat now?" Kaiba looked at him as if disappointed and glanced back down at Joey's lips. "What? Am I bleeding again?" Joey raised a hand and touched a finger to the split, but, before the salts of his skin had time to make the slash sting, Kaiba had grabbed the hand away and was leaning in far too close.

Joey leaned back against the couch, and only had time to blink and take in the vastly conflicted look in Kaiba's eyes before another pair of lips was pressed against his own.

There was no salvation, Seto knew. Whatever madman had possessed him before had taken over once again. The first time he'd only touch him, now he was kissing him? No, there wasn't a way to escape from this mess…

He could only make it bigger…

If he was going to do anything, he was going to act like he meant to. That meant no brief peck on those wounded lips. It meant taking enough time to relish the contact and to begin to taste his blood as it was smeared on his bottom lip. It meant being forced to listen in silence to the madman that whispered in his brain.

_Kiss back. Please. Kiss back so I don't look like a fool…_

Of course, Joey never did.

Kaiba pulled away, face blank but eyes haunted by a vicious amount of insecurity and surprise. He wasn't looking at Joey, it seemed he was staring at the floor, even as he mindlessly wiped the smudge of blood off of his bottom lip.

Joey didn't know what to say to him or how to react. Once again, Kaiba had his mind completely twisted and lost. Piece by piece, Joey tried to figure everything out.

Kaiba had kissed him, and was now standing in front of him and staring at the floor, probably asking himself why… If he didn't know why, Joey knew it was a waste of time trying to figure it out first... There were other matters at hand.

Kaiba had kissed him…how did he feel about that? Joey knew that under any other situation—during any other time—he would have felt more than a small bit agitated and intensely confused. He would have pondered over what Kaiba could have been scheming—what rumor was he trying to spread? what insulting message was he trying to send?

This time, under these circumstance, Joey didn't feel mad, he felt…kind of sorry for Kaiba… He was obviously trying to say something, Joey obviously wasn't picking up on it, so he had to rely on a kiss that neither one of them understood.

He had been kissed…By Seto Kaiba… How did he feel about that? Not angry… acceptably confused… The key was that he wasn't mad… So, if he wasn't mad, what was he? He needed to find out, and fast because Kaiba was starting to get a look of horror in his eyes that masked the rest of his feelings… Joey didn't like that one bit.

If he wasn't mad, what was he? He was… Kinda happy about it…

"Kaiba," he said, slowly standing up in front of the brunette who immediately locked their gazes. Kaiba's eyes had turned into a mask of rage and bitterness…that had to mean that, inside, he was the most distressed boy in the world.

Kaiba didn't say anything back; that told Joey enough as it was. That meant that he knew he had taken things too far and assumed that the apocalypse was on the horizon.

Joey had nothing he could say to that. He couldn't think of the words, and he didn't have time to think logically about anything else. All there was inside of him was a need to banish the thoughts that were tearing his friend's mind apart.

If Kaiba had kissed him and he wasn't angry about it, then he must have been contented with it. There was no time to think about the meaning of Kaiba's kiss—what brought it on? what was it saying?—but that didn't mean he couldn't return it, backed with emotions of his own.

Seto's heart didn't skip a beat, and he didn't lose his ability to breathe, but he was still taken off guard when that blonde…person…put its lips to his. Why? Why would he do that? It was obvious that that creature—that dog—that _kid_ hated him.

Right?

Ah, hell… The dog probably just wanted to make sure it got fed!

Kaiba abruptly pulled away, but before he could harden his eyes again, Joey had already seen the intense pain within them. Kaiba turned his back to him and started for the door with his head lowered just enough for his bangs to conceal his eyes.

"Come on," he practically shouted, lifting his head after getting all of his emotions back in check. "I'll get you something to eat before you start chewing my sofa!" Joey drew back in surprise at the sudden rage, but understood it enough not to snap back with serious anger.

For Kaiba's sake, he replied with some.

"I'm not your dog, rich boy!" Joey shouted and stormed past the brunette, out of the room. For Kaiba's sake, he had to behave relatively normal—though he'd be damned if he could remember what he normally acted like at that moment—that way, if Kaiba so chose, they could act like nothing had happened…

Like neither of them had "gotten over their differences" as Yugi would have put it and grew closer in just a few minutes' time…

( ) ( ) ( )

Seto knew he'd gone insane… He couldn't even remember what he had been thinking. At that moment, his houseguest was sitting in their dining room with Mokuba, eating everything placed before him with zealous enthusiasm. Seto had managed to escape from eating by acting as if he'd gotten a call…

Neither of them had fallen for it, but it somehow seemed better than just walking off.

Hidden away securely in his office, Seto let out a quiet groan and buried his head in his hands for several seconds…certainly not long enough to look half as weak or detestable as he felt. What was the matter with him? That was the only thought in his brain.

He'd just kissed that putrid, blonde dog—that juvenile delinquent—that _boy_! Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if that blonde punk had wanted it, but he hadn't! All of that returning of the gesture was probably just an act of nervousness or some sort of sick, disgusting kindness on that kid's part. Done just so he, Seto, would feel better.

He only felt worse and worse by the second.

What could he do to fix this, because he didn't want to make it worse. His mind told him to hide away in his room, call the practice for the project done, _disappear_ for a little while…but he just couldn't allow himself to do that.

He already looked so weak now…there was no excuse to allow himself to behave even more pathetic. Seto knew that he would have to face that boy again, and it was quite honestly scaring him.

He didn't want to. He wanted to hide, to disappear, to cease existing for a minute…At least until he banished this madman who had taken up roost in his mind. He just couldn't allow himself to do that…

It was so much like before…so much like that first time…

The past wasn't a comfortable place to revisit, but it was at least familiar. He knew the turnout there…so he welcomed the memories he spent most of his time banishing from sight.

He'd felt the same then… He hadn't wanted to face that man. He hadn't known what to do or say, or if he should have done or said anything…

Back then, with Gozaburo, Seto had stayed silent. It had been the best option…

With Joey…he didn't want him to go away. He finally had him as close as he wanted him—for whatever sick purpose he wanted him for that he had previously been too shy, too _wise_ to initiate—if he did and said nothing, Joey would disappear.

It would all disappear.

But wasn't that what needed to happen?

Seto groaned softly and looked towards the dead scene outside his window.

Once again, he couldn't have what he wanted…

( ) ( ) ( )

**A/N: **The last section is mostly a narration of what Kaiba is thinking, that's why it says "he" so much. (I don't know if that bothers you, but it bothers me quite a bit.) Apparently, Kaiba is starting to find synonyms for Joey…like boy, and houseguest—nice, _human_ words. What can we trust Kaiba to do to get himself out of this situation, or in deeper? Tune in next time.


	10. Domesticated

**Title: **Grave Robber

**Summary: **Seto wanted to take his secrets to the grave, but when a class project lands him and Joey closer than desired, those secrets become harder to protect than ever. Especially when Joey is discovering the common ground they share.

**Contains: **Yoai, lemon in random chapters, references to child abuse and molestation, sudden flashbacks, arguments, and occasionally ooc-ness

**Pairing: **Seto X Joey

**Disclaimer: **I do not own yu-gi-oh or the characters, I also make no money from the writing of this fanfic.

**Author's Note:** Well, it's been about 4 years now, but guess who's back? This chick! Now let's see how this goes...

( ) ( ) ( )

Dinner hadn't been so horrible after all, Seto had realized after he'd finally composed himself enough to venture out of his office. Eating was so simple… You didn't have to talk when you ate because your mouth was full.

And let's face it, Mokuba had more than enough to say. He always did. He balanced Seto out.

_Dinner _hadn't been so horrible. In the presence of all of the others, Seto felt normal. Mokuba was there talking about something…Seto felt remotely bad about not remembering what…there were maids rushing in and out, offering more food and fresher drinks… None of them allowed themselves to be distracted by the smile—the _smirk—_that their employer had creeping over his face as he watched the houseguest stew in excitement over the never-ending meal.

Seto felt…normal when he was surrounded by the others who didn't know what he was really like. He felt normal when he was acting like Kaiba.

Immediately after leaving the dining room, that feeling—that control—vanished. Mokuba skidded away to some part of the house leaving Joey and Seto…alone again.

"Kaiba…" Joey said, once the brunette had followed him into his assigned bedroom seemingly without thought once dinner was over. He looked at him over his shoulder, but didn't like the cold, insensitive message that the body language sent and turned to face him directly. "Why do you…Why did you ask if my dad was the one who—"

"Because if anyone else hit you, you wouldn't be here." Kaiba locked their eyes. He was glaring and it made Joey nervous. "You think I don't remember hearing about your reputation?"

"My repu—"

"The best little mumble I ever picked up on was the kid who hissed that Wheeler was like an attack dog. Brainless and mean." Joey's eyes narrowed while Kaiba's curved upwards in a smile. "If you crossed him the wrong way, he'd tear you apart. It reminded me of me. And we both know how much I 'love' _me_." Kaiba's tone sounded both honest and sarcastic at the same time. "You don't let people push you around. Not even me—and I have more than enough power and money to run you into your grave. I could have you go missing and no one would ask a question or even _think_ to point their finger at me. You know that and you still take every chance you can get to piss me off."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Joey asked, keeping his eyes locked with Kaiba's and watching as sanity and madness swarmed inside of those electric blue eyes.

"We're evenly matched," Kaiba stated, as if commenting on the weather. It's raining, didn't you know? That was what his tone sounded like.

"What does that have to do with my dad?" Joey asked, looking away briefly because Kaiba's eyes were becoming mesmerizing. What did any of this have to do with being hit by his dad? Kaiba said that the two of them were alike—"evenly matched"—that they were…both attack dogs? Brainless and mean?

If anyone but his father had hit him, he wouldn't be here? Where? Here in the mansion or here in the world?

Yeah, Joey admitted that he could get into some pretty intense fights, but he'd never kill anyone to prove a point. Maybe Kaiba meant that he'd have picked a fight and gotten himself killed.

But what did that have to do with…

"Why do you let him get away with it?" Kaiba asked, grabbing Joey's chin and forcing their eyes to meet again.

Joey saw something there, and dots were connected with lines.

Kaiba saw himself in Joey—at least vaguely. They were both bullheaded, both ruthless to some extent, and fairly persistent. They didn't let people push them around, they didn't give up, and they didn't have any trouble getting their hands dirty if the moment called for it.

Joey knew about Gozaburo. Not in detail, but he knew enough.

Why did you let him get away with it? Kaiba had asked. Why didn't you fight back harder and put that old man in his place?

Joey had asked himself that question dozens of times and came up with multiple answers. Because he was just a drunk old man who didn't know what he was doing half of the time. His dad was depressed about losing his wife and daughter. A middle-aged man had nothing on a teenager in a fist fight—his stamina would give out if he fought too hard. A teenager heals faster than an older person—he didn't want his dad to be hurt.

He loved him. Yeah, his dad could be mean and inexcusably brutal, but he was his dad…

That wasn't the answer Kaiba was looking for though. Kaiba didn't want to hear about love or father-to-son affection.

Such things were foreign to him. He couldn't comprehend them.

Maybe Kaiba actually thought they could connect over the cruelty of their fathers, but Joey didn't think that they could. Joey still loved his dad, Kaiba obviously didn't.

"He's my dad," Joey said. An answer that wouldn't satisfy the other's needs. "And I can handle it."

"But you don't have to!" Joey flinched and met Kaiba's anxious gaze. He'd used a parental tone—the type he commonly used with Mokuba.

"Kaiba, I don't know where you're trying to take this—"

"You shouldn't let him get away with doing this!" Kaiba ran his finger along the cut on Joey's lip and narrowed his eyes into a glare.

"It's none of your business!"

"I won't let him hurt you!"

"Why do you act like you care all of a sudden!?" Joey spat back. "Two weeks ago you cursed the fact that I even exist. Why do you care so much now?"

"I always care. You're near me. Your image reflects mine."

"So let me go!" Joey pushed Kaiba away from him, just for emphasis. It was hard to think rationally when the man who you used to think was your enemy was shoving anxiety and worry down your throat.

"I don't want to! I want you around and it's pissing me off! I don't need _anyone_, so why do I want you?"

"Why _do_ you want me?" Joey demanded.

"Because you're _mine!_"

"No, Kaiba, I'm not."

"Yes, you are! And I'm not going to let some drunken lowlife tear up something important to me! He doesn't deserve to have you, and I do! I'll take care of you!"

"I can take care of myself!" Joey shouted. "Why do you think I need you? I can barely stand you half of the time!" Kaiba's eyes narrowed further, but he didn't seem put-off by the words. "I don't want you involved!"

"Yes, you do," Kaiba said, his expression becoming one of smug certainty. "Sometimes, you do. You want help, then you don't want help—you want someone, but you don't. I chose not to let anyone get involved. I won't let you do that to yourself."

Joey clenched his teeth and stared at Kaiba through narrow eyes. Deep down, he understood what was happening. He knew Kaiba was seeing Joey as a reflection of himself—as if looking at Joey were looking into a slightly warped mirror. He wasn't talking about Joey wanting help or not wanting help, he was seeing himself when he'd needed help and there was no one around to save him.

He tried to be rational, but Joey couldn't tamp down the anger, the rage he felt for Kaiba who'd done nothing but insist upon causing him pain for years. Kaiba, who had never once been nice to him before was all of a sudden bringing out this backhanded affection and had the nerve to say Joey wanted it.

_Kaiba_, who repeatedly referred to Joey as a dog and worked so hard to undermine his self-confidence and self-worth, told Joey that he was _his_? That Kaiba had some sort of _ownership_ over him?

"Stay out of my business, Kaiba," Joey spat. "What goes on in my house, in _my_ life, has nothing to do with you. And no matter what you think, I'm not _yours_. I don't belong to anybody!"

Joey had expected the words to make Kaiba angry. To get him frustrated at least. But Kaiba's face showed nothing. He didn't have shock, he didn't have carefully concealed pain—his face was blank. Hard, icy eyes. Thin, pressed lips.

At the very least, he expected Kaiba to _say something._ But he just stood there. His face blank until, all of a sudden, his lips twisted into a large smirk.

"I _mean_ it, Kaiba," Joey said, feeling nervous when Kaiba just continued to stare.

"Wheeler—"

"Cut it out!" Joey yelled when Kaiba's face just kept getting more and more twisted. "Ever since I met you, all you ever did was bully me and degrade me. Why are you acting like you care all of a sudden?"

"Because we're alone," Kaiba said darkly.

Joey didn't like the shadows that appeared in Kaiba's eyes. It made him look more dangerous than sleep-deprived or stressed.

"What, you can only be nice to me when no one's lookin', rich boy?"

Seto felt like he'd lost control of everything. Whatever he'd been working toward so gradually over the past few days was falling down rapidly around him. Joey was getting angry, his tone had become spiteful, and for once in his life Seto couldn't think of anything to say.

He didn't want to admit it, but the anger in Joey's eyes _hurt_ him. Seto knew he deserved that rage—he'd done nothing but make Joey's life a living hell whenever he'd been around before. Of course Joey wasn't going to welcome his kindness with open arms. He'd be a fool to. Joey was suspicious of the generosity because he was afraid of what would happen if and when Kaiba took it away. Would the kindness be replaced with more hostility? More pain? If all he knew at home was abuse and neglect, he had a right to be wary of Seto's shifting mood.

Unable to think, unable to come up with an answer that would calm Joey down, Seto gave in to the madman at the back of his mind. He lunged forward and grabbed Joey by the back of the head, he forced their mouths together. Blood from Joey's lip ran into his mouth, spit that came with Joey's stifled scream ran into his mouth, Joey's breath ran into his mouth—it was perfect. Even the way Joey looked when he finally broke free was perfect.

"That's—Kaiba! That's what I'm _talkin' about!_ You can't _do_ that!"

"Do what?" Kaiba asked, smirking.

"You _know_ what," Joey said, looking so confused and uncomfortable. "_That_. You can't just…_kiss_ me like that."

"Why?" Seto asked.

"Because we're not— Kaiba, what's going on with you, man? Did you get on new meds or somethin'?"

Now Joey was feeling concern for him. It was funny to watch his rage turn to an embarrassed red flush on his cheeks.

"We need to practice, Wheeler. You still get mixed up when reading your parts of the presentation. No one's going to buy anything from you if you can't even explain what it is without confusing yourself." Seto smirked when Joey's eye started twitching. For some reason he was biting back his rage, maybe realizing that the great Seto Kaiba had finally lost his mind. Seto knew it was pity that made Joey bite his tongue, but this was probably the only time in his life Seto didn't detest being pitied. Right now, it worked too much to his advantage.

"Fine," Joey said, wiping the blood off his lip and sitting down with his papers in hand. He sighed heavily and started reading off information about a scientific experiment. Seto watched him and recited his parts when they came, mostly from memory. As he recited, he would see Joey flashing him cautious, nervous looks. He was afraid Seto would pounce him again. That puppy was so cute…

( ) ( ) ( )

"Tristan, I need your help." Joey was whispering into the phone in his room at Kaiba's house. He didn't have his own cell phone and was made to talk on the phone Creepy Kaiba probably had bugged.

"What?—Why are you callin' me so late for, man? We've got school tomorrow," Tristan said, sounding like he'd been woken from a very deep sleep.

"Somethin' weird's goin' on with Kaiba," Joey whispered.

"Weirder than normal?"

"He's…he's being nice. Like, _nice_, nice to me, you know?"

"No, I _don't_ know… Can you wrap this up? I wanna go back to bed."

"This is gonna sound really weird, and I don't want you to freak out—Ah, I probably shouldn't say anything about it, but I'm really confused about it."

"Confused about _what_, Joey?"

"Okay, you're not gonna believe me, but he _kissed_ me. Like…on the mouth. More than once."

There was a long pause and Joey was prepared to ask if he was still on the line.

"He did WHAT!? Are you _serious?_"

"Yeah, I'm serious!" Joey said. "He did it like…three times now."

"Why didn't you punch him the first time and make him stop?—Is he out of his mind or something?"

"I don't know, man. He's actin' really weird." Joey wasn't going to mention how possessive Kaiba had acted. He wasn't going to tell Tristan how Kaiba called him "his," like he was property. "I know he's tired and stressed, but this is just something else."

"Did you tell him to quit it?" Tristian asked.

"I did the last time and he just smirked at me, then he acted like nothing happened. I don't know what to do."

"Beat him up. That's sexual harassment. You could ruin his whole career if you wanted to."

"No," Joey said, feeling embarrassed when he realized he didn't want to hurt Kaiba even though he wouldn't have let the opportunity pass him by even a month ago. "I don't want to do that to him. He's got something goin' on with him, I just don't know what or what to do."

"I don't know what to tell you, Joey. That's so weird. I can't believe he _kissed_ you. He _actually_ kissed you."

"I know, Tristan. I was there."

"And you didn't punch him?"

"I don't wanna punch him…"

"Well that's new. You were foaming at the mouth to get a shot at him just last week. Don't tell me you forgot how he used to call you a dog."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself. He still does that. It's Kaiba we're talkin' about here."

"So he calls you a dog, then kisses you, and you let him get away with it? You're going soft on me, man."

"I told you, he's got somethin' goin' on. I just don't know what… He got really mad when he saw that my dad and I got in a fight. I had a split lip and Kaiba just went…crazy. He said all kinds of weird stuff and then he kissed me."

"What kind of stuff?" When Joey didn't answer, Tristan asked again. "Joey, what did he say to you?"

"It was weird. He said…" Joey sighed heavily and started rubbing at his brow. He knew where this was all heading now and he didn't know if Tristan would blow up about it or not. "He said he wanted to take care of me, and when I asked why he was suddenly acting like a he cared about me, he said it was because we were alone."

"Oh, wow… That's—Joey, you don't think…_you know,_ do you?"

"I don't know," Joey answered. Did he think Kaiba wanted more to do with him than just to torment him? "I guess I can't get past the idea that he's just doing it to mess with my head, to see if he can freak me out."

"That doesn't sound like Kaiba. The only games he plays with people is Duel Monsters—otherwise he's kinda straightforward. Either he likes you or he doesn't."

"That's all fine and dandy, Tristan, but up until we got paired for this project, Kaiba _hated_ me. Now he's kissin' me and callin' me his!"

"He said you were his?"

Joey groaned and fell back against the large, spacious mattress. "Yeah. When I asked why he kept pushin' to know if my dad was the one who hit me, he started sayin' 'you're mine.' It's so weird…"

"That doesn't sound like Kaiba. Are you sure it's not an imposter?" Tristan laughed with good humor and Joey growled in his ear.

"You gotta be serious, man, and help me with this!"

"It's simple, Joey. If you don't want Kaiba _kissing_ you, then tell him to quit and punch him if he doesn't listen. I can't even believe you're confused about what to do. That's not like you—are you sure they aren't spiking the water over there in that mansion?"

"I just feel like something else is going on. I don't want to hurt Kaiba—"

"See, that's where you don't sound like yourself. Since when do you _not_ want to beat the crap out of Kaiba?"

Joey sighed and rubbed at his face again. He didn't want to hurt Kaiba because he could tell by the look in his eyes that he'd been hurt before. Seeing Joey hurt by his dad reminded Seto of being hurt by his stepfather.

"Maybe he just wants to make a friend…and doesn't know how," Joey mumbled.

"I think even Kaiba knows kissing people isn't how you make friends."

"I don't know. What do you think I should do?"

"Well, you don't _have_ to do anything. Once the project is done, you won't have to see him anymore. If you don't see him, he can't—" Tristan paused to laugh. "—he can't kiss you again. Unless you want him to, that is." Tristan said it as a joke, but it made Joey cringe.

"Why would I _want_ him to?"

"I don't know. You're the one who didn't punch him right away—anyway, I'd love to keep chatting with you, Joey, but I need sleep. We've got class and I'm getting detention if I sleep through History again."

"Alright, bye, Tristan. But, hey, don't…don't tell anyone about this, okay? I don't want it getting around."

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me, Joey." Tristan hung up without saying goodbye, leaving Joey to lie on the large mattress alone with his thoughts.

Why _hadn't_ he punched Kaiba for that stupid kiss or the ones before it? Kaiba deserved to get punched for the stuff he was saying… Why didn't Joey want to punch him the one time he deserved it more than any time before?


	11. The Let Down

**Title: **Grave Robber

**Summary: **Seto wanted to take his secrets to the grave, but when a class project lands him and Joey closer than desired, those secrets become harder to protect than ever. Especially when Joey is discovering the common ground they share.

**Contains: **Yoai, lemon in random chapters, references to child abuse and molestation, sudden flashbacks, arguments, and occasionally ooc-ness

**Pairing: **Seto X Joey

**Disclaimer: **I do not own yu-gi-oh or the characters, I also make no money from the writing of this fanfic.

**Author's Note:** Kaiba was a bit bold in the last chapter—how will he deal with the consequences now?

( ) ( ) ( )

Seto couldn't sleep. He stared at his ceiling, cursing himself for how out of hand he was letting himself get. He'd worked too long, too hard to let himself ruin it just because some blonde dog had come sniffing around his house. Yes, he felt sorry for Joey. Yes, he hated the fact that Joey had no mother in the picture and a dad that beat him up. Yes, Seto had to admit it, he hated that he knew how Joey felt. He saw himself in Joey—a poor, less educated, impulsive version of himself.

A nicer version of himself. The way he would've been had he stayed at the orphanage instead of tricking a sadistic monster into adopting him and his brother.

At three-thirty in the morning, Seto gave up on sleeping and got out of bed. He sat on the edge of his bed for almost twenty minutes before giving up and getting dressed. Once he was dressed, he left his room and before he realized it, he was standing next to Joey's bed in the guestroom.

After ten minutes of watching blonde sleep and listening to him murmur about wanting hamburgers with more cheese, Seto kicked the foot of the bed to wake Joey up.

"Nyeh! What's happening!?" Joey called in alarm, sitting up and clutching his pillow to his chest as if protecting it from an attack. "Kaiba? What's goin' on? Is there an earthquake or somethin'? I felt the bed move!"

"That's because I kicked it," Seto said, holding back on calling Joey a stupid dog. "Get up."

"Why? It's three in the mornin'! What's your problem?" Joey said, looking at the clock and letting his tone turn to a weepy, pathetic groveling sound.

Now that he had Joey awake, Seto was at a loss for what to do with him. Joey wasn't like Mokuba. Seto couldn't just go into his room and strike up a conversation, no questions asked.

"We need to practice our presentation," Seto said, knowing once the words were out how crazy and manic he made himself sound—how like Gozaburo Kaiba he sounded.

"Stop it," Joey moaned, lying back down. "You're crazy if you think I'm getting' outta bed at three in the mornin' to study with you!"

"You're lazy," Kaiba growled.

"And you're a psycho!" Joey yelled. "First you're nice to me, then ya kiss me, now you're wakin' me up in the middle of the night! What's _wrong_ with you!?"

Seto just stared at him. There was no answer for his actions. He was getting obsessed with Joey the way he got obsessed with new projects and inventions. Joey was all he thought about—all he really wanted to think about. He couldn't sleep knowing Joey was alone in a room down the hall with a split lip and countless bruises on his neck and arms. Joey was a careless, sloppy street punk—but he was _Seto's_ careless, sloppy street punk. He shouldn't be getting beaten by his father. Not at his age. Joey should be fighting back, and if he refused to do it, Seto was going to have to do it for him.

And Seto didn't want arrested for beating Joey Wheeler's father half to death just because he couldn't beat Gozaburo who deserved it the most.

"Get up, Wheeler," Seto said, kicking the bed again. Joey let out an indignant cry and rolled over, pulling the blankets over his head.

"You're crazy—Crazy Kaiba! Crazy Kaiba!"

Seto growled and grabbed the blankets from over Joey's head, yanking them until his pet was exposed.

"Cut it out!" Joey yelled. "What do you want?"

Seto stared at Joey and weighed his options. Joey would never tell anyone what he did. He wouldn't go to the press about the odd, forceful kisses no more than he would tell about the faulty virtual games Seto had made and failed to perfect. Seto began to wonder what all he could get away with before Joey finally snapped.

Not that Seto was going to push it that far. He wasn't mean; he wasn't a rapist. He wasn't going to hurt Joey. There was no need to hurt Joey, anyway. If he didn't like Seto's advances, he would've punched him in the face or fought him off by now. No… The pup wanted Seto's attention.

And who was Seto to deny the pup anything?

Joey watched in petrified horror as Kaiba sat down on the bed and then started crawling toward him. He couldn't tell if it was scary like a horror film, or scary like a crime drama. Kaiba was moving toward him like…

Joey flinched and started trying to crawl back up toward the headboard to get away. Kaiba was coming at him like some kind of teenage fantasy, porn star. Everything from the way the bright, white security lighting that bled through the windows lit up Kaiba's face to the way he moved his shoulders and hips. It was…sensual—it was crazy!

"Y-you tryin' ta mess with me, rich boy?" Joey said, trying to sound ferocious but just sounding nervous.

"Hush," Kaiba said, reaching out slowly with one hand and cupping Joey's cheek. His thumb traced the sore spot on Joey's lip where his father had punched him and Joey flinched. Kaiba was _obsessed_ with the injury. Then it was like he really thought he could kiss it and make it better.

Kaiba crawled over top of Joey's body, even when Joey started flailing his legs to get him away. Kaiba pressed his lips against the side of Joey's mouth and then ever so slowly started moving to the left so he could kiss Joey full on. It was different from the rushed kisses Kaiba had given him before. This one was slow—it was intimate and practiced.

Joey tried to push Kaiba away, but Kaiba just grabbed his wrist in an almost gentle grasp and pushed it aside. Once he let go of Joey's wrist, he placed his hand on the back of Joey's head and held him still as he started running the tip of his tongue against his captive's lower lip. Joey made a noise like a cry and tried to turn his face away.

He'd had a lot of fantasies in his life, but none of them ever involved cocky, rich boy Kaiba crawling into his bed and kissing him.

When he tried to open his mouth to tell Kaiba to back off, the rich boy took it as an invitation and moaned slightly before sliding his tongue into Joey's mouth. The hand on the back of his head went from holding to caressing, and Joey squirmed as Kaiba's other hand came around to rub at his hip.

Joey was completely out of excuses for how crazy Kaiba was acting—so what if he was stressed? Who cared if he was tired? It was going on four in the morning! Why was Kaiba in here trying to rape him when he should be in bed sleeping and fighting off the crazy!?

When the hand on his hip started going toward Joey's abdomen, the blonde finally lost his cool. He screamed into Kaiba's mouth and started pushing on him again. He was gearing up to start a real fight, even if it meant Kaiba's legal team would spin it and make Kaiba the victim somehow, but as soon as he screamed, Kaiba pulled away. Kaiba just backed off and stared at him as if he didn't understand why Joey was freaking out.

"Did I hurt you?" He asked in a tone Joey had _never_ heard Kaiba use, not even toward Mokuba. It harbored so much sympathy—so much _fear._ It showed he cared. It showed how _much_ he cared.

"Why—Why do you keep doin' that!?" Joey yelled, staring at Kaiba who stared at him in return. Did he really think it was okay to just do with Joey what he wanted? Where in their history together did he get the idea that it was okay to start kissing him whenever he wanted—or that Joey wanted him to? "And don't say 'cause I'm yours—because I'm not! All you ever do is pick on me and make me feel bad about myself. Don't think that because you can get whoever you want that you can come in here and try to screw with me too! I'm not one of your fans, money bags—"

"Fans?" Kaiba echoed, like the word was foreign to him. "I don't take fans to bed with me, Joey."

"Yeah right," Joey said. "Like you learned that whole display from playing around with your pillow." Once the words were out, Joey choked on them. Kaiba's face looked haunted and he pulled away. He didn't think Kaiba reacted that way because he was being rejected for the first time. And when that look of fear grew worse and worse until Kaiba got up from the bed and disappeared into the hallway, Joey thought that maybe Kaiba hadn't 'leaned that whole display' in any way that was pleasant.

( ) ( ) ( )

Like always, Joey was taken to school in a separate car from Kaiba after breakfast. Kaiba entered the dining room just long enough to tell Mokuba he would be home late from work, and then just walked out without eating or even looking in Joey's direction. Joey couldn't blame him though. He'd be embarrassed too if he crawled into some other guy's bed at three in the morning and tried to cop a feel.

Joey wasn't mad at Kaiba for it though. No, he was mad at him for an entirely different reason.

Like _not showing up to class for their presentation._ Kaiba just never came. Joey was left sitting in his desk looking around like an idiot, expecting Kaiba to stroll through the door—but he never did.

"Where's your partner, Mr. Wheeler?" The teacher asked, looking at Joey with a smug expression as if he actually held the answer. How the hell would he know where Kaiba was? Kaiba was his own person, and he sure as hell didn't answer to Joey.

"N-no clue," Joey muttered.

"Is this your way of saying you two need _another_ extension? You already had an extra day to work…"

"Our project's done. I don't know where Kaiba is," Joey said, scowling in the direction of Kaiba's empty seat. How dare Kaiba make him go to his house and sleep over—get harassed—and then not even come to class on the day the project was due!? Who did that guy think he was!?

All of his lunch period, Joey yelled to Tristan about it. They sat together on the roof, Tristan casually eating from his bento while Joey screamed around a fancy sandwich Kaiba's dinning staff had made him "at Master Kaiba's command."

"Wow, Joey. He's got you even more worked up than usual," Tristan said. "Maybe somethin' happened to him."

"If somethin' happened to him, this whole town would know about it the second it happened! There'd be girls cryin' everywhere, afraid he lost his good looks in a car wreck."

"From what you've told me, I think his fangirls are gonna be crying over something else here soon," Tristian said, giving Joey a devilish smirk.

Joey felt his face turn red and he focused more on his sandwich—stuffing the rest of it into his mouth to avoid talking.

"Has he really been trying to kiss you?"

"Trying?" Joey said around his mouthful of food. "He's _succeeded._ Multiple times!"

"And you still haven't punched him?—I'm starting to think you like it, Joey."

"Hey! That's victim blamin', man! That's not even funny!"

"Victim blaming? All he did was kiss you. If you didn't like it, you'd tell him to stop it."

"I do! He keeps doing it! This morning he crawled into my bed with me. He's actin' _weird."_

"He got in bed with you? And you _didn't_ punch him?"

"I yelled at him," Joey said with little conviction.

"Okay, the Joey _I_ know would never let Kaiba get away with that. What's he done to get inside your head?"

Joey sighed and set the sandwich aside. In his time with Kaiba, Joey had learned that he wasn't i_as_/i horrible of a person as he'd thought. The guy had some dark secrets, and whatever they were caused Kaiba to be nicer to him…and when Kaiba was actually trying to be nice, he wasn't that awful of a guy. Joey wasn't planning to run off into the sunset with him holding hands and skipping, but he wasn't planning on punching Kaiba in the face for being handsy either.

"He's just actin' strange, Tristan. When he was in my room this morning, he was…vulnerable. It was _weird_ seeing _Kaiba_ like that."

"Vulnerable? How?"

"Eh, I said somethin' to him," Joey said, leaving out there part where Kaiba's kissing transformed from something forceful to something a little more sensual and seductive. "He just looked really hurt and he walked off—he didn't even insult me back or anything. He just walked away."

"Yeah, and skipped class you would present late and lose points—and probably have to go back to his house."

"Why would I have to go back to his house?" Joey muttered.

"Duh, because he's luring you in. I bet you anything, if you _don't_ go to his house tonight, he won't be in class tomorrow either. He's gonna make you come to him."

Joey groaned and scratched at his head, annoyed that Tristan was able to figure that out before he could. Of course Kaiba was going to trick him into going back to his mansion? How else would keep Joey around? If the project was finished and turned in, there'd be no excuse to see him (or kiss him in the middle of the night).

( ) ( ) ( )

"I don't care what you think, Wheeler. You can tell I'm busy. I didn't skip class to draw you into my house. If I wanted you somewhere, don't you think I'd tell you? I don't have time to play mind games."

Joey stood in front of Kaiba's desk at his office, fuming and feeling his eyebrow twitch erratically. Kaiba was smirking the whole time he spoke, making it obvious that he was playing 'mind games.' He didn't show up because he wanted to see if Joey came chasing after him. In a few minutes, the dog insults would be coming in rapid fire.

"Right. So you're tellin' me you just skipped class and left me hanging because you just decided work was more important than _our_ grade!?"

Kaiba rolled his eyes and Joey was prepared to cock back his fist and punch him.

"If it means that much to you, Wheeler, I can give teacher a call and have her work something out for you," Kaiba said, adopting a condescending tone and an even more twisted smirk.

"What's your problem, rich boy? You're up to somethin' and I know it. You'd better tell me what it is before I beat it out of ya," Joey said, scowling darkly and raising his fist as threateningly as he could.

"You? Beat it out of me? You don't stand a chance," Kaiba said, his eyes narrowing and his smirk fading into tightly pressed lips.

"Don't tempt me, moneybags. After the stunts you been tryina' pull, I could ruin your reputation in all the local papers. So don't…don't tempt me." Joey's passion faded immediately into fear when Kaiba stood from his desk, a dark expression in his face and eyes.

"Are you threatening me?" Kaiba said, his voice low. He stepped around the desk and stood threateningly close to Joey who looked up at him nervously. "Because if you think you have any leverage against me, you're mistaken. You come here to _my_ office, in _my_ company. If you had a problem with me, you should've taken care of it yesterday. _Do you_ have a problem, Wheeler?"

Joey swallowed hard and shook his head. That vulnerable image of Kaiba that he had in his mind was gone—completely replaced by this Kaiba, the one that was silently threatening to break his neck.

"Get out," Kaiba said.

Nodding, Joey backed toward the door. Kaiba stared at him until the door finally closed. Even as he walked out of the Kaiba Corp office building, Joey still felt those eyes on him. Frigid and spiteful.


	12. Playmate

**Title: **Grave Robber

**Summary: **Seto wanted to take his secrets to the grave, but when a class project lands him and Joey closer than desired, those secrets become harder to protect than ever. Especially when Joey is discovering the common ground they share.

**Contains: **Yoai, lemon in random chapters, references to child abuse and molestation, sudden flashbacks, arguments, and occasionally ooc-ness

**Pairing: **Seto X Joey

**Disclaimer: **I do not own yu-gi-oh or the characters, I also make no money from the writing of this fanfic.

**Author's Note:** Seto finally gets a taste of what he wants—and maybe Joey starts to realize that it's something he wants too. At least, that's what Seto hopes; otherwise he's becoming the same sort of monster he used to fear.

( ) ( ) ( )

He was at his desk signing off on another contract binding him and I2 together for four more years when the call came through. The head of his home cleaning staff informed him that the precious pup had left some personal belongings behind in the guestroom, but there was no address for them to send the items to. She asked if Seto knew of Joey Wheeler's home address or if the items should be thrown away. Seto didn't have to think long before he came to a conclusion.

"Bring them to my office. I will take them to him myself." Seto hung up and finished with his paperwork. It was another twenty minutes before his executive house keeper arrived with the plastic bag full of dirty clothes and pajamas.

As he waited for the housekeeper to come, he'd told his secretary to find Joey Wheeler's home address. She reported back to him that Joey lived on the poor side of town in a tiny little home. Always thorough, she also printed out a police record showing the number of time the cops had been called for various disturbances. Seto didn't have time to read it over, but he already had a pretty good idea of what the list would include.

Wasting no more time, Seto left his office and got into the car waiting for him downstairs. The driver had already been told Joey's address and the drive there had been silent and short.

"Wait for me," Seto said when the driver stopped and opened the car door for him. "This won't take long." The man nodded and stood obediently next to the car as Seto approached the front door.

As Seto prepared to knock on the rotting wood of Joey Wheeler's front door, there was a sound from inside like glass being smashed. Seto pulled back his hand and listened more closely. Following the shattering of glass there came three heavy thuds in rapid succession, then a bellowing shout that had to belong to Joey's father. After his voice came Joey's, loud and pained. There was another slam that was chased by Joey's harrowing cry, and Seto had heard enough.

Seto tested the knob and the door was unlocked. He pushed it open and growled in disgust when the stench of booze and decay hit his nose. The house wasn't squalor, but it was definitely in disrepair. From the doorway, Seto could see through a dimly lit living room into a narrow kitchen.

Seto approached it slowly, careful to keep his footfalls quiet. The sounds of more glass breaking were followed by the sounds of Joey yelling at his father—telling him to get away, to leave him alone. His father had him pinned in a corner. Joey was trying to ward off drunken punches aimed at his face, but he held back. He could easily have overpowered the drunk, but he chose not to.

Then, with one strong fist, Joey was knocked onto the floor and kicked in the face by his father who bellowed at him for wasting space and "keeping him up worrying" all night by being gone.

He kicked Joey one last time before Seto reacted, and Joey let out a sound far too close to a sob. Seto growled and grabbed the drunken, older man from behind and dragged him away from Joey without much resistance. The man screamed at him, unable to even slur a real sentence, and flailed as he tried to get Seto off of him.

Seto easily pushed the man into the kitchen table behind him, which was where he'd intended to leave the fight, but the look the man gave him—a hateful, spiteful look that showed he had no remorse for beating and kicking his son—lit the fuse.

The last thought Seto had before his vision turned to an angry smear of red was _No one kicks my dog. No one._

Joey shivered against the continually pulsating pain in the middle of his knee where his father had kicked him. His nose hurt from a particularly brutal punch, and he honestly didn't remembered when he'd been shoved onto the floor, but his shoulder hurt from the fall. He didn't know why his father stopped hitting him, but he could still hear the man yelling.

Still shaking, Joey cracked open his eyes when he heard his father fall over onto the kitchen table. Everything was blurred around the edges, but Joey sat up quickly when he realized there was another person standing in his kitchen. He blinked repeatedly, trying to get his vision to clear up as the shouting grew louder—another voice joining his father's—and then his father was on the floor as well.

"St-stop!" Joey called, not stammering because he was nervous, but because he was so taken aback. "Hey! That's enough! You're gonna kill him—quit!" Joey got to his feet, swaying in his disorientation. He stumbled over to _Seto Kaiba_ who was standing in his kitchen, beating his father into a pulp. "Kaiba, stop!"

Joey had to force his way between Kaiba and his father, just to get the bloodthirsty CEO to back down. Even then, Kaiba's eyes were focused and harsh.

"Get out of my way, Wheeler," Kaiba spat, as if this fight was personal.

"He's my dad," Joey said, hoping it would bring Kaiba out of his rage. He didn't know what was going on with the guy, but he rarely let his rage turn physical, and the last person Joey ever thought Kaiba would protect was him. He'd spent years making sure Joey knew just how much he hated him. Why was he now beating Joey's father to a pulp in an attempt to protect him? "You won, alright? You won. You can stop!"

"Why are you protecting him?" Kaiba growled. "He doesn't deserve to have you protecting him."

"And you don't deserve to go to jail for murdering him," Joey said. "What are you even doing here? Go home!"

Kaiba glared at him and then turned his attention back to Joey's father who was rolling back and forth on the floor, moaning in pain and confusion.

"Come," Kaiba said. Joey opened his mouth to tell Kaiba he wasn't a dog, he didn't go anywhere on command, but Kaiba grabbed him by the forearm and yanked him forward. Once his balance was compromised, Joey was easily dragged through his small house and shoved outside into the waiting car.

His first thought as the car door slammed once Kaiba was in the seat next to him was this was what it felt like to be kidnapped.

( ) ( ) ( )

Joey was pulled into Kaiba's mansion, still shaking from the shock he was in because of the pain and adrenaline. He'd tried to get Kaiba to stop the car and let him out—let him go check on his dad and make sure he was still breathing—but Kaiba silently refused. He wouldn't speak; he wouldn't even look at Joey.

He was afraid of what was going to happen when they got into the mansion. He didn't know if Kaiba was going to lock him in a room somewhere or if he was going start with all the grabbing and kissing again.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Joey yelled when he was pushed into a bedroom on the mansion's third floor. And not just any bedroom—Seto freakin' Kaiba's bedroom suite. It was a bedroom with a living room in it, and never before had so many soft surfaces looked so threatening.

"You can't let him treat you like that!" Kaiba yelled, his voice so full of rage that Joey backed down. Anger was only going to be matched with more anger. Joey would lose the fight, as much as he hated to admit it, and he couldn't handle another battle.

"You can't break into my house and beat up my father like that," Joey said in return. "It's not your place to protect me."

"It is now," Kaiba said. "You obviously can't do it yourself. What were you thinking? Why didn't you fight him!?"

"He was just drunk—"

"He could've killed you! Your mouth is bleeding, you can't walk—why did you let him do that?"

"He's my dad—"

"That's not an excuse!" Kaiba yelled, grabbing Joey by the forearms. He didn't yank Joey forward or even squeeze. He just held on—almost as if trying to offer comfort but uncertain about how. "He can't do that to you. You can't let him do that to you anymore."

Joey wanted to argue, but he had no excuses left. He shouldn't let his dad get away with all he did, but he'd always had the idea that he'd move out soon and it wouldn't be a problem anymore. That it would take care of itself. It was becoming apparent, however, that that wasn't true.

"He split your lip again," Kaiba said, his eyes finally softening. Joey flinched when Kaiba wiped at the blood with his finger again, remembering how last time that had ended in a kiss. "I want my nurse to look you over. He could've broken your leg."

"You have a nurse?" Joey said, the question somehow slipping out past the protestations that came to mind.

"Kaiba Corp has on-call doctors if I need them. You only need a nurse as far as I'm concerned. Sit down."

Joey looked at one of the couches in Kaiba's bedroom living room suite and sank down onto the soft cushion. He kept expecting Kaiba to jump him, but it didn't happen.

( ) ( ) ( )

The nurse who looked over Joey's cuts and scrapes was absurdly more polite than the other members of Kaiba's personal staff. She smiled a lot and kept an upbeat attitude, even when applying stinging antiseptics to Joey's wounds. She didn't ask what happened—possibly believing her boss had done the damage—but commented on much more gruesome incidents she'd treated.

After he was bandaged and his kicked knee was deemed "sore but not broken," he was taken back to Kaiba's personal bedroom suite where the multi-millionaire sat at his desk by the window working on his laptop.

"I'm fine, see?" Joey said, just to break the silence when Kaiba didn't look at him. "So…can I go home now?"

"You're not leaving," Kaiba said casually, unwittingly reaffirming Joey's feelings of being kidnapped.

"Kaiba, you can't keep me," Joey said, his tone less than enthusiastic.

"You can't go home."

"You almost killed my dad. I wanna go check on him."

"He's fine. I sent my on-call doctors to your house to make sure he didn't throw up and choke on it. He'll live."

Joey was actually impressed. Part of him felt like it was a lie, but then he realized it would probably be bad for business if it leaked that Seto Kaiba beat a middle-aged man half to death in his own home. The doctors probably came with hush money that would no doubt be spent on more booze…

"Sit down, Wheeler. You shouldn't be standing on your bad leg."

"My leg is fine, Kaiba," Joey said, looking around the impersonal bedroom. There was nothing in the room that distinguished it from the guestroom Joey had stayed in. The only personal effects were Kaiba's clothes, the books on the shelves, and one photo of Mokuba on the desk. Everything else looked like stylish props.

"You need to sit down," Kaiba repeated, not bothering with a reason this time.

"I want to go home. We don't have to work on our presentation anymore, so there's no reason for me to even be here."

"You're here because I want you to be. Sit down."

"Kaiba—" Joey flinched as Kaiba stood up from the desk. He should've just run for the door. He knew nothing good would come from standing there and subjecting himself to Kaiba's twisted whims. Kaiba walked up to him and stood so close it made Joey want to back away. But once those eyes were on him, Joey was stricken. "What do you want from me?" Joey asked, shaking his head and looking at Kaiba with a pleading look, trying to silently beg him to stop this weird, twisted game.

Kaiba lifted a hand and began stroking Joey's cheek, even when Joey sighed and turned his eyes away.

So they were back to this again? Was Kaiba ever going to say what was going on?—admit that he'd started taking crack or acid and this was all a bad trip?

"You _hate_ me," Joey said, remembering Duelist Kingdom when Kaiba had literally thrown him to the ground and started all of the dog insults. "Why are you trying to be nice now?"

"Because you're mine."

"I'm not yours! Quit it with that already! It's not an answer."

Kaiba started smirking and Joey inwardly cringed. The hand stroking his cheek slowly slid to the back of his head and pulled him forward. Once again, Kaiba pressed his lips against Joey's, trying to be careful of the fresh wound. Joey doubted he'd ever get a real answer about why Kaiba had taken a sudden interest in him that extended beyond harassing him. Seto Kaiba was used to having everything he wanted, and one day he must've woken up and realized he wanted a piece of Joey Wheeler.

In all of the time he'd known Kaiba, Joey had never really thought about having him in the ways Kaiba was proposing. When someone hated him, Joey usually accepted it and moved on—especially when other guys hated him. He was used to fighting. He wasn't used to warding off sexual advances—and especially not advances made by pretty-boy Kaiba.

He realized that Kaiba wasn't going to back off, just as he realized that when he went home the only thing waiting for him was the reek of booze and another few kicks and punches. Honestly, Joey would rather be anywhere than at home—and if Kaiba was offering, who was going to turn down three big meals a day and a huge bed at night?

And Kaiba was sort of manageable when he was being nice. Tolerance could turn to a friendship, couldn't it? Kaiba was a jerk, sure, but only because he had to be for work. No one would respect him if he were a shy, modest businessman.

Joey sighed and tilted his head slightly, giving Kaiba access to what he wanted. Immediately, Kaiba let out a pleased groan and started kissing harder, wrapping his arm around Joey's waist and jerking him closer.

It wasn't so much a submission in Joey's mind as it was an experiment—at least that was what he told himself. Maybe he should've realized what he was getting himself into before Kaiba backed him into the wall. The kiss became heated more quickly than Joey had anticipated, and as much as he hated to see it that way—it really did happen too fast for him to register it.

One moment Kaiba was kissing him on the mouth, then the next Joey was turned around with his chest pressed into the wall. Both of Kaiba's hands were on Joey's hips, rubbing them and sliding up his side under his shirt. Joey shuddered under his touches, and gasped when Kaiba started kissing him on the side of his neck.

Several times Joey tried to ask Kaiba what he was trying to do—even though he knew exactly what he was doing—but all Kaiba did was shush him and act more bold. Joey tried to pull away when Kaiba's fingers started toying with the button of his jeans, but Kaiba just held him tighter and worked faster.

Joey swallowed hard when Kaiba had his jeans undone and began pushing them down off his hips.

"I-I don't think—" Joey tried to grab the waistband of his jeans before the slid down over the curve of his thigh, but Kaiba immediately shushed him and pushed harder to get the fabric out of the way of his hands. "Kaiba, I don't think you really want to do thi—" Joey's words turned into a sharp hiss when Kaiba's hand snaked down the front of his boxers and gripped him firmly by the cock. After that, the only thought in his mind was "this is really happening. Oh god, this is actually happening."

Seto smirked into Joey's neck, nuzzling him and at the same time relishing his scent under the coppery smell of blood. He had his pup right where he wanted him. Joey was squirming under Seto's touch, unresisting and completely pliant. He let Seto do what he wanted with him, his only protestations coming from nervousness—shyness.

When Seto wrapped his hand around Joey's half-hard cock, he was surprised at how eager Joey's following moan sounded. He expected more resistance or to have the dog snap and turn to bite him—but Joey just leaned his head back onto Seto's shoulder and panted. Once he worked Joey's cock to full hardness, Seto chose to be a bit more daring. He pushed Joey's jeans down a little father and used to his foot to get his pup to spread his feet a little wider.

Joey let out a choked scream when, all of a sudden—with no forewarning whatsoever—Kaiba pressed one of his fingers inside of him. He didn't know how to respond or what to say. He'd been with a few girls in the past, but he'd never messed around with any guys. He hadn't even really thought about it in detail, but when his mind did wander, he never saw himself being the one on the receiving end.

He wanted to squirm away, to tell Kaiba that this was moving too quickly and he didn't think it was right for either of them, but Kaiba just kept stroking him and moving that finger slowly in and out. When Joey did try to speak, Kaiba would start kissing and sucking his neck, as if to make sure he didn't speak a word of protest.

After a few minutes, Kaiba worked a second finger in alongside the first. Joey hissed, slightly out of pain and a bit more out of humiliation. He felt his cheeks burn red, especially when Kaiba started to quietly laugh in his ear. The slight pain was too quickly replaced by a bolt of pleasure when Kaiba's fingers pressed against something which almost left Joey on his knees if not for Kaiba's hold on him.

Once he found that spot, Kaiba kept his fingers pressed up against it. In a matter of seconds he had Joey twitching and writhing against the wall where he was pinned. Kaiba started rubbing on that one sweet spot with his fingers in time with his hand that kept pumping Joey's leaking cock.

To think that Kaiba—Seto Kaiba, of all people—had him pinned to a wall and was practically forcefully pleasuring him was so bizzare. He'd never pegged Kaiba as the generous type. If anything, Joey expected Kaiba to take his own pants down and start ravaging him any second, but it never happened. Kaiba seemed content to turn Joey into a pathetic, whimpering and needy mess.

Seto sighed into Joey's neck, taking in every noise the blonde pup made. He could feel Joey's muscles fluttering around his fingers as he drove them deeper while still making sure to keep pressure on that one spot he knew would drive the poor boy mad. The hand he had pumping Joey's cock was completely smeared with precum which dripped down onto his bunched up jeans as well as the floor.

When Joey was close, Seto could tell by the hitching of his breath and the way his puppy's shoulders began to spasm as if he were trying to pull away. In response, Seto rubbed the tips of his fingers against Joey's prostate even faster, not satisfied until Joey's legs were shaking and he had to lean against the wall for support.

Seto began pumping Joey's cock faster, drunk off the quiet moans of pleasure coming from his wounded pup's throat. After getting attacked by his father, Joey deserved a release. And when that release finally came, Joey's seed splattering against the wall and his body shaking in Seto's arms, there was no doubt in Seto's mind that his pet appreciated it.

( ) ( ) ( )

Joey found himself kneeling on the carpeted floor, pants bunched up around his knees, panting. When Kaiba let go of him, his legs were useless and he slumped against the wall. A few strands of his hair unfortunately got stuck in the mess slowly sliding down the wall, but he didn't even have enough energy to fall away from it.

Once Kaiba was finished with him, he just walked off. Joey tried looking over his shoulder to see where he went, but it became pointless when he heard the sound of a sink running from some unseen bathroom. When he finished washing his hands—a feat which took almost five minutes at least—Kaiba returned and hauled Joey back up to his feet.

"You need a shower," he said, kissing Joey firmly on the cheek and then walking over to his desk where he sat down and returned to working on his laptop as if nothing had even happened.

"I don't have any clean clothes to change into," Joey stammered, awkwardly pulling up his boxers and jeans.

"You can wear mine. We're…relatively the same size."

Joey didn't bother to mention that Kaiba was obviously taller than he was and anything of Kaiba's that he wore would make him look like a dwarf. Joey had learned quickly that it didn't do any good to argue with Kaiba. He was used to getting what he wanted—able to pay any price at all—and Joey was just another one of those things. How long it would be before Kaiba lost interest and moved on to a new thing was still open for interpretation. It would happen though. Joey was sure of it.

Anyone used to having whatever he wanted was bound to get bored quickly and move on…

With a sigh, Joey wandered toward the bathroom adjoining Kaiba's bedroom suite.

"Wheeler," Kaiba said, just as Joey was about to go through the doorway.

"What?" Joey asked, unable to hide the negative feelings that were starting to eat away at him. As soon as he was out of Kaiba's grasp he'd felt used—manipulated and weak.

"You're sleeping in here tonight."

"Why?" Joey asked, rolling his eyes. When he looked over at Kaiba, the brunette was staring at him. He expected Kaiba to say something along the lines of 'because I want you to,' but the CEO surprised him.

"Because it's the best room in the house, and you deserve the best."

It was so out of character for him to be so…blatantly affectionate. Even his tone sounded sincere, like he really wanted Joey there not just for his company, but because he felt Joey had somehow earned it.

"You're goin' crazy, Kaiba," Joey said, stepping into the bathroom and closing the door. Kaiba mumbled something, but the wooden door muffled it. It wasn't until Joey was standing under the stream of water that he realized how badly he wanted to know what had been said.


End file.
